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REPORT 



SILAS REED, 



SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY, 



FOR 



THE YEAR 1871. 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 
1871. 



REPORT 



OF THE 



SURVEYOR GENERAL OF' WYOMING TERRITORY. 



Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 30, 1871. 

Sir : Iu compliance with your letter of instructions of April 7 last, I have the honor 
to submit the following annual report, in duplicate, of the surveying operations of this 
district, with the statements below enumerated. 

A. — Statement of surveys contracted for under the appropriation of $25,000, made by 
act of Congress approved March 3, 1869. 

B. — Statement of surveys contracted for under the appropriation of $40,000, made by 
act of Congress approved July 15, 1870. 

C. — Map of the southeast portion of Wyoming Territory, showing the extent of the 
public surveys. 

D. — Statement of surveys contracted for under special appropriations of Congress. 

E. — Statement of surveys contracted for, to be made for account of individual deposi- 
tors, within the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. 

F. — Statement of townships surveyed in Wyoming Territory to June 30, 1871, of 
which the field-notes have been returned, examined, and approved. 

'Gr. — Statement of the amount expended for compensation of the surveyor general 
during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. 

H. — Statement of the amount expended for compensation of clerks during the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1871. 

I. — Statement of the amount expended for incidental expenses. 

K. — Estimate of appropriations required for the surveying service for the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1873. 

The statements relating to the surveys are so explanatory that comment is hardly 
necessary. I am pushing the surveys as rapidly as possible, and confining them to such 
localities as will best subserve the immediate interests of^settlers. Our extent of terri- 
tory is so vast, that what I have been able to do so far makes a comparatively small 
show. 

Iu the matter of incidental expenses, as shown by statement I, I have endeavored 
to practice rigid economy, and by that means there is left unexpended of the $2,000 ap- 
propriation, made July 15, 1870, a balance of $680 20. 

The appropriation for office-work is not sufficient to enable me to keep the work in 
proper shape. I made it hold out last year, for the reason that more than half of the 
surveys under last year's appropriation did not come into the office until the beginning 
of this fiscal year. I have three clerks only, and they have been obliged to work nearly 
double the number of hours per day that are allotted to Department clerks, in order to 
avoid complaint from the deputies at delay in forwarding their accounts. The appro- 
priation is too small to pay even this insufficient force, and there will be a deficiency 
of $700 on their salaries next spring. I trust that the estimate I make for four clerks, 
for the next fiscal year, will be allowed by Congress, as the office- w T ork cannot be kept 
up properly with a less number. 

I have the honor to further report my observations, and the facts collected, upon 
the several subjects relating to the chief products and resources of this new Territory. 
I have dwelt to considerable length on these matters, in order to enlighten the public 
mind as fnlly as possible concerning the extent and character of these resources, and 
to dispel the popular belief that iu these high altitudes, and among these Rocky Moun- 
tain peaks, there is little else thau snow, frigid winter, and barely a trifle of the pre- 
cious metals. 

Agriculture will make slow progress for the present, until irrigation is provided 
for and the settlers can possess the Indian country north of the North Platte and the 
Sweetwater, (the forty-second parallel of north latitude.) There is a belt of nearly 
three degrees of latitude north of that line, the surface of which, in the valleys, 
and east and northeast of the Big Horn Mountains, slopes rapidly toward the Yellow- 
stone River, and will sustain a large agricultural population, (requiring little or no 
irrigation,) when freed of Indians. 



4 EEPOET OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

I have therefore confined myself principally to those resources of the Territory, which, 
with capital and population, can he made immediately available, to wit : 

1st. Climate, which is the key to winter grazing, and the facility and economy with 
which stock can he raised. 

'2d. Stock and sheep, and the value and importance of these great industries, which 
are so peculiarly adapted to tbis mountain region. 

3d. Coal and iron ore, which so plentifully abound in this Territory, and furnish such 
broad and lasting foundations for future wealth and general prosperity. 

4th. The question as to the existence of gold and silver in our principal mountains. 
This question, I take great pleasure in saying, is already solved, in my own estimation, 
and I am convinced that these metals exist in quantities far exceeding the most san- 
guine expectations that I had formed before examining the different localities. A little 
placer gold had been found in the Medicine Bow range, and a number of mines had 
been opened at the base of the Wind River range, at Sweetwater ; but there seemed 
to be doubt as to the future yield and permanency of these last, and no silver ore had 
been discovered until late this season. Deciding to bring my long experience and 
observations among the mines and mineral veins of Missouri and elsewhere into requi- 
sition by making personal examination of Mie geological features and formation of our 
most accessible mountains, and seeing to what extent their geology indicated gold and 
silver bearing rocks, I thus made live expeditions to as many distinct mountains, 
three of which expeditions occupied from ten to twelve days each. 

I have given as succinct an account of these different journeys as the importance of 
the subject would permit ; and having found so much to encourage, in the gold and 
silver bearing indications of the rocks and localities examined, I shall hope to be able 
to examine two or three other mountain ranges next season. 

My visit to and examination of the Sweetwater gold mines has increased my confi- 
dence in their permanent mineral wealth, and also in the safety of judiciously invest- 
ing mining capital there. 

Both gold and silver have been discovered this season in the Seminole Mountains, a 
range that, until lately, was not known to exist by most of our population, but which 
will furnish valuable and permanent veins. of these metals. So also of the Sabylle and 
Laramie Peak Mountains, where no discoveries are yet made. The very favorable 
indications which I found existing there will result, I trust, in the commencement of 
prospecting in earnest next spring, and in the success of which I have the utmost 
confidence. 

With persevering efforts in this direction, it will take but a short time to show 
to the mining world that we are not behind the other Territories in the extent, variety, 
and permanent wealth of our mineral resources. 

CLIMATE OF WYOMING. 

My printed annual report of last year covered three pages on the subject of climate, 
and I wish to avoid repetition as much as possible. But it is a subject of so vital im- 
portance to the stock and wool grower (if not to the miner) that I have taken pains 
to collect all the meteorological facts that have been recorded here during the past 
year, in the hope that they will enable the stranger to our locality and climate to form 
a correct opinion of the peculiarities which belong to this altitude of 6,000 to 7,000 
feet. 

The climate here, along the base and within the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, is 
less generally understood than any other feature of the region. 

The Allegheny Mountains and the White Mountains, were they 7,000 feet above the 
sea, would show perpetual snow in the latitude of 41° ; but in the Rocky Mountains 
the perpetual-snow line is 12,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level. Here, at Sherman, at 
the altitude of 8,200 feet, there is good pasturage, but little snow ; the ground is bare 
for portions of all the winter months, and potatoes and other vegetables can be grown 
with irrigation. The wonderful influence that produces these effects is not yet fully 
appreciated or understood. 

We well know that the isothermal line of 50° mean annual temperature, in its 
course across the coutinent, makes a graceful curve to the north, after crossing the 
Mississippi River, and passes over the Rocky Mountains to its terminus on the Pacific 
Ocean at Puget Sound. The chief cause of this lies in the fact that the Pacific fur- 
nishes a " tropical stream" far greater and warmer than the Gulf Stream of the At- 
lantic. Thus, San Francisco has a mean annual temperature about 14° higher than the 
same latitude on the Atlantic coast. This increase of annual heat holds good all along 
the coast of California over the same latitudes on the Atlantic, and also along the 
coasts of Oregon and Washington. 

Another strange feature is, that no rain falls in California from May till November, 
and no rain-clouds seem to pass over it during that time from the surface of the Pacific 
to supply rains to the thousand miles of Rocky Mountain belt. Si nee I made a tour 
this season through California and down its southern coast, and witnessed the parched 
surface, and experienced a temperature of over 104 c in the shadiest places, I can bet- 
ter appreciate the strange attributes of the Pacific Ocean, which push the isothermal 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERA], OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 5 

line far to the north, and cause the warm dry air to spread over the whole mountain 
region, and throughout all its long interior valleys, like that of the Colorado River 
and its branches, -which furnish passes for the warm currents, both summer and winter, to 
the plains of Green River and Laramie, to the valleys of Utah, and even to the '• parks*' 
of Colorado. It is this heated air of tbe tropics, passing over the balmy surface of the 
Pacific, and forcing its way up the valleys and along the sides of our loftiest mount- 
ains, that forces back the frozen air of the north, and makes the snow and ice retire 
up the sides of our mountains at the earliest dawn of spring-time. 

Annual mean temperature at Cheyenne. — This is generally considered to be about 50°. 
Last year I took the annual mean from an observation taken at 3 o'clock p. m. each 
day, which gave 55°.78-J-. But this year I have condensed the meteorological tables 
politely furnished me by Mr. Asa C. Dobbins, observer, who has charge at this place of 
the War Department telegrams and reports relating to meteorology, and for the benefit 
of commerce. 

The following tables exhibit a careful analysis and summary of all meterological 
data for the last eleven months. They are compiled from three daily observations, 
taken at 6 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m., respectively, Cheyenne time. The mean temper- 
ature of these three daily observations, (the 6 a. m. one being taken earlier in the 
morning than heretofore iu this region of the mount ains,) is shown to have been 
47°. 33 for the eleven months. The yearly mean at Fort Laramie, I understand, has 
been 50 c heretofore. This fort is ninety miles north of Cheyenne, but is 1,500 to 2,000 
feet lower in altitude, and in the valley of the North Platte. 

Cheyenne is a higher and more exposed point than any other along the eastern base 
of the mountains, at the same distance from them. 

The course of the minds is shown in the tables, and also their velocity and frequency. 
It appears that out of the 1,002 observations taken during eleven months, 276 showed 
the wind from the west, 176 from the south, 117 north, 48 east, 136 northwest, 86 south- 
Avest, 48 southeast, and 23 northeast. Eighty-one of the observations showed calm 
weather, free from storms or wind ; 68 showed stormy weather. 

Tlw rain-fall of the year show T s only 8.97 inches. This seems to be below the gen- 
eral yearly average. Last year my report showed 12.73 inches for twelve months pre- 
ceding. Dr. Latham says, " the Black Hills and Laramie Plains are in the belt where 
20 inches of rain falls annually," — but this certainly cannot have been the case for 
many years past. The past season has been a very dry. one all through this region, 
and the creeks and rivers were never known so low. The chief reason of this can be 
seen in the small snow-fall here from November to April, inclusive. Daring these six 
months only 1.96 inches of rain and melted snow fell. Our snows are so light and dry 
that 12 inches of snow make only an inch of water, and none of the snow-storms of 
this period were over 3 inches deep here at a time, one generally melting, or being 
blown away, before another came. There were, also, only 15 storms for the four 
months from November to February, inclusive. 

The extremes of temperature. — December was the coldest month of the year, the mean 
temperature being oulv 21°. 19. The thermometer fell below zero on six different days, 
the 12th, 14th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22d, the 21st being the coldest, 23° below zero; the 
warmest day was 57°. We had 2^ to 3 inches of snow at that time. On the 23d of 
this month I Avas at St. Louis, and found 8 inches of snow, and the thermometer that 
night fell to 14° below zero, which, with the damp atmosphere there, is felt far more, 
than 23° below is here. 

The following month, January, 1871, was the most remarkable month of the year, 
the monthly mean of three daily observations (one being unusually early, 6 a. m.) 
showing 31°.58. The warmest observation was 64° ; the coldest 9 C below zero, the 
only instance during the month that.it fell below, which was at 6 a. m. on the 12th. 
For the first ten days of the month it was warmer here than at any other place on the 
continent, north of the thirty-fifth parallel and east of California; some days being 
only equaled at New Orleans and Mobile. At 2 p. in., on those days, the thermometer 
stood as follows: 1st, 36°; 2d, 39°; 3d, 43°; 4th, 53°; 6th, 49°; 7th, 53°; 8th, 56°; 
9th, 64°, and the 10th, 58°. There is no such instance of January temperature along 
the forty-first parallel of north latitude, east of the Rocky Mountain belt. 

February, 1871, gave a mean temperature of 29°. The highest was on the 3d, 55°, 
while on the 11th it was 10° below zero at 6 a. m. There were four stormy days, but 
only .08 of an inch of rain (snow) fell. 

July was the warmest month. The highest temperature was 97°, the lowest 50°, and 
the mean for the month was 71°, 87. The thermometer rose once to 97°, once to 96°, 
once to 95°, and three times to 90°, at 2 p. m. There were ten rainy days, with a total 
rain-fall of 1.26 inches. 

In August the highest temperature was 93°, the lowest 42° ; mean for the month 
67°.83. The two hottest days were the 9th 17th, and 90° and 93°. There were five 
stormy days, with a total rain-fall of 0.36 of au inch. 

The following table is so much condensed as to show a very accurate picture of the 
weather for the year, and will repay perusal by any one wishing to know the charac- 
ter of this climate fully. 



EEPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 






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b REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

AGRICULTURE, GRAZING, SOIL, IRRIGATION, ETC. 

All these subjects present aspects so entirely different, in the dry and elevated re- 
gion of onr plains and mountain -valleys, as compared with those which exist in the 
valley States and in lower altitudes, that too much can scarcely be said in explanation 
of their peculiarities, to the agriculturists and stock -growers of those rainy localities. 

In my report of last year I remarked that these plains along Crow, Lodge-Pole, 
Horse, and Chugwater Creeks, east of the Laramie Mountain, of 5,000 to 6,000 feet 
elevation, would yield 30 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre, if sown in April and prop- 
erly irrigated. The soils almost everywhere here are of choice quality for all small 
grains and vegetables, and will yield amazingly if you give them water. 

Artesian wells, and even smaller wells with wind-mills upon them, will be resorted 
to largely in certain localities, as the country becomes older, and capital and popula- 
tion become more abundant. 

A clever volume might be written upon the strength of our soils in the production 
of vegetables, esculent roots, &c, when properly cultivated and irrigated. The Greeley 
Tribune says: "William S. Taylor, who began farming two years ago in the Cache a 
la Poudre Valley, raised cabbages this season weighing 45 pounds each, thirty-seven of 
which filled a wagon with side-boards on." I saw a wagon-load at the hotel a few days 
since that measured four feet each in circumference, after being stripped of the outside 
leaves and made ready for boiling. Such cabbages as these can be easily grown on our 
valley lands without a particle of manure, if judiciously irrigated. Noticing a load of 
potatoes lately, very large and uniform in size, I made some inquiry of Mr. Patterson, 
who raised them on Lone Tree Creek, near Cheyenne, as to how many bushels he 
could raise per acre. He said from 200 to 400 bushels per acre was only a fair crop 
when properly cared for. Those I saw in his wagon " were plowed in last spring," 
he said, "and plowed out this fall," without any hoeing or intermediate attention 
whatever — not even irrigating. He weighed thirty of them, which weighed 47 pounds, 
and he told me that from one barrel of seed he had raised 100 bushels of potatoes, hav- 
ing marked off the line planted so as to know how much the yield would be. 

Mr. Taylor, before referred to, raised carrots 31 inches long, and his average yield of 
wheat was 30 bushels per acre, though he states himself that he did not irrigate suffi- 
ciently. This was in the Cache a la Poudre Valley, forty miles south of this city, near 
the town of Greeley, in which the first house was built eighteen months ago, and it now 
numbers about 1,500 inhabitants. 

During a recent visit to California I saw what could be done by farmers and gar- 
deners, on a moderate scale of expense, by the use of small windmill pumps for the pur- 
pose of irrigation. On the plain betv\een Sacramento and Stockton I saw r many of 
these windmills, and in the city of Stockton almost every large garden was watered 
from a well, from 20 to 60 feet dee}), by a windmill pump. The same method is adopted 
in Santa Clara Valley, on such wells as will not naturally flow to the surface, and also 
in many other places in the State, and it will become universal except where capital 
shall be used to briug down large canals from the heads of streams. 

Every citizen about Cheyenne owning a garden or small farm should at once resort 
to the use of a windmill, for plenty of water exists 15 to 50 feet below the surface, 
which could be made useful in this way when the five-mile race from Crow Creek fails 
to bring water to the city, as it did this year for the most part of the summer. 

These subjects have been very ably handled by Mr. Dunlap, a large farmer of Cham- 
paign County, Illinois, in a lengthy communication published in the Chicago Tribune 
of September 4, Avhich I take pleasure in giving all the publicity I can. 

Mr. Dunlap visited these plains and mountain valleys this summer, and though a 
large farmer on the rich soil of Illinois, with habits and modes of thought adapted to 
farming in that State, he has closely and impartially examined into what at first ap- 
pears so incomprehensible to a stranger, and has expressed an impartial judgment on 
what he saw, which is so in harmony with my own observation and experience that I 
prefer to give his conclusions, which the reader may consider more impartial than my 
own would be, coming as they do from a stranger, merely on a tour of observation 
through a country that for a generation or more past has been so improperly called 
" The Great American Desert." Mr. Dunlap says : 

"In considering the agricultural resources of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and 
Nebraska, we must examine the effects of elevation, the air currents, the geological 
and mechanical condition of the soil. We should also bear in mind that climate is the 
great arbiter of agricultural wealth, and that the soil, water, and forests are but 
secondary only so far as they do not make new conditions. If we look at the map of 
the world we see at a glance that a part of the great current of heated air that 
forms the Gulf Stream, and which is found northward of the trade-winds, and which 
have been forced out of their normal course by the Andes, is pressed up the long 
slopes that connect the Gulf with the Rocky Mouutains. The moisture that is carried 
with this warm air is formed into elonds, and these seek the lower level of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, and are driven to the northeast by counter currents, while the warm 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 9 

air follows the mountain ranges, and spreads over the treeless plains west of the 
Missouri. These two forces have divided the country into the rainy and the dry 
region, the lines of which are quite distinctly marked. The rainy region is well 
adapted to a mixed husbandry, and will produce all the plants of the temperate zone. 
The dry region, on the other hand, in its natural condition, produces only grasses. In 
the rainy region the native grasses continue to grow from early spring until October, 
when their annual growth is completed. But unless these grasses are cut and cured 
as hay, in their most nutritious condition, they are of no value for winter food for live 
stock, as the frosts and the rains destroy their value for this purpose. For these 
reasons the farmer must store up fodder for at least four months' feeding during the 
winter. But then he may grow the cereals, corn, potatoes, and other roots ; he can 
plant forests that will yield him valuable timber for commercial purposes, and to 
shelter his grounds from the cold winds that come from the north, and which, mingling 
with the warm damp air from the south, precipitates the moisture and reduces the 
temperature* 

"This line of demarkation is crossed by the Union Pacific Railroad, near Grand 
Island, on the Platte River, near the twentieth degree of longitude Avest of Washing- 
ton, and on the Kansas Pacific on the same line. To the west of this line is another 
condition of things, but the soil has little or nothing to do with this, as it is simply 
the effect of the air currents, as changed by the topography of the country. The 
warm-air current is not chilled by the damp clouds, but its warm breath is at times like 
the air from a heated oven, for it comes from the tropics, and its moisture has passed 
eastward, and it is slowly cooled by the north wind, the cool air from the snowy 
range. These have a powerful effect during the night, but the steady supplies of hot 
air from the south hold the balance of power, and the result is a much warmer 
country than the rainy region to the east. We thus have a strip of country four 
hundred miles wide to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf to the 
Saskatchewan River, in latitude 52°. We may call this the great pastoral region of 
the continent, a region where no other food than the native grasses is required, 
either summer or winter, to grow and fatten stock equal to that produced in the 
agricultural districts with the aid of grain and shelter. 

"In this winter-pasture section the fall of snow is light — seldom more than four 
inches, and this is at once evaporated by the warm south wind. It is not melted by 
the sun. as with us, and the snow-water softening the soil, for as fast as melted it goes 
into the atmosphere, forming a light, summer-like cloud, which floats off toward the 
rainy belt. During March, April, and May, there are light showers that rouse the dor- 
mant grasses, and they then make their annual growth, which is but a few inches of 
short, early tufts, that are soon cured, like hay, with all their nutriment unimpaired, in 
which condition it remains until cropped by the animals. All through the summer 
this grass is dry, and yet the stock range on it and crop it with as much eagerness 
as if the most succulent of grasses. A farmer, passing through the country and not 
knowing of this peculiar feature of the grass, would pronounce the country of no value 
for stock-growing ; and yet it is the richest grazing region on the continent. The beef 
is rich and tender, while the milk is superior for butter and cheese. In the Southern 
States the yield of milk is small, yet the quality is good when used as milk ; but the 
cream will not readily separate from the milk, and the making of good butter is almost 
out of the question. But here the cream rises in great quantity, and is made into very 
superior butter. For the making of cheese it is also very superior, making a soft, rich 
cheese. Colorado cheese commands, in Denver, ten cents more a pound than the best 
Illinois factory cheese — not the cheese branded Illinois, but the Illinois cheese that is 
branded and sold for New York factory cheese. 

" It will be seen that the atmosphere, by its peculiar air-currents, dividing this 
great slope that leads up from the Mississippi River to the foot-hills of the Rocky 
Mountains — from an elevation of 300 feet to that of 6,000 — has been the cause of divid- 
ing it into two distinct belts of climate; the one adapted to all the products of the 
temperate zone, and the other simply a pastoral region, producing its grasses in three 
months for the support of the whole year ; a country that people have called a desert ; 
a country that has been pronounced uninhabitable except b3 T tke buffalo, the antelope, 
and the Indian. But modern civilization has discovered great value in this whole sec- 
tion, and it is now being put to use ; in short, it is revolutionizing the pastoral aspect 
of the whole country. But this is not all, for nearly the whole space occupied by that 
belt called the Rocky Mountains is but an extension of this great pastoral region for 
two hundred miles more to the west. This whole range of mountains is undergoing a 
rapid change. The granite is yielding to the climate, and is being disintegrated and 
crumbling into the elements of "soil. 

" The soil. — I do not intend to speculate on the vast changes that have been wrought 
in all this region, or by what process the formations that overlaid the granite have been 
transported eastward to form this drift ; but we can see that, in addition, the denud- 
ing forces have transported largo quantities of the granite and mixed its disintegrated 
particles largely with the soil. First, the limestones have been dissolved and carried 



10 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

into the valley, forming a clay soil, which has heen in places overlaid Avith sand, while 
on nearly all this dry plain the granite and sandstone are the leading materials of the 
soil, and they thus afford a good natural drainage. This you may say is unnecessary; 
hut its value, will be seen when we come to the subject of irrigation. The foot- 
hills present to view limestone shale, while limestone for building purposes crops out 
along the streams and has been found up through the surface of the prairie in 
many places. As we reach the base of the mountains, the old red sandstone is pre- 
sented in large quantity. These form vertical walls, hundreds of feet high, through 
which the streams have cut their way, and are called canons ; a little further, and 
nothing but granite is presented to the eye ; all the secondary rocks have disappeared, 
and the granite is yielding to the forces of nature. Granite gray, granite red, some 
mixed with mica, some with quartz, some with feldspar, and some with flint ; but all of 
it contains potash — that element of the soil so essential to the growth of wheat, and 
which has given to the standing pools an excess of alkali. Such, in brief, are the lead- 
ing characteristics of this trans-Missouri country, toward which the attention of the 
world is just now turned. 

* # * # # ' * * 

" Irrigation. — It was found that water added to the soil produced magical results, and 
thus gradually a system of irrigation has been adopted, and is rapidly extending over all 
the country where water is attainable from the streams, and it is not improbable that 
the system will be extended from wells by the aid of windmills. The area that is sup- 
plied with water from the streams is limited, as regards this great extent of country, 
yet it is capable of sustaining an immense population, and is of great value, not only 
to the hundreds of thousands that must be employed in the mines, but to the army of 
railroad employes and the herdsmen. None of our new States have opened up a larger 
field to the industries that produce the raw material of a nation's wealth than is here 
presented ; for we must take into consideration the mineral as well as the agricultural 
resources of the country. And this is what explorers and geographers have been 
pleased to call the ' Great American Desert;' 'the fields of cactus and of intermin- 
able sage,' where "pools of alkali' 'poison all the stock, and where the buffalo and the 
wild Indian shall ever hold undisputed sway.' But the charm is broken, the genius of 
man is changing their condition and bending them to his use. The gardener turns The 
mountain rills on to the arenulous soil, sparsely covered with dry grass, and studded with 
prickly cactus. After being moistened with water, the plow can enter its sun-baked 
crust, when it becomes a kindly, triable soil that returns the hands of culture a rich 
reward. With from $1 to $3 per acre for cost of water and labor extra, this soil will 
produce in mense crops of the cereals, of vegetables, and of the native or culti- 
vated grasses. In the culture of these staples, corn excepted, the profit is greater 
than in the rainy districts and on our richest soils. The cost of the ditches and the 
annual extra labor is not more than the cost of tile-draining and the making of roads 
for our best Illinois farms. In those dry districts the roads are always of the best, nor 
do the streets of the towns need more than a little rounding up, in order to have them 
in the best condition. The soil is of that peculiar texture that the water does not soak 
into it. The same system of irrigation applied to our common prairie soil would re- 
duce it to a quagmire, ami would til 1 the wells flush with the surface. In the hoed 
crops the water is turned down each row, while in the small grains the drains are about 
8 feet apart; but in order to saturate the intervening spac.e of 4 feet, that is half on 
each side, the plowing must be deep and the pulverization of the soil thorough. On 
the unbroken prairie the water does not penetrate the side of the ditch, and the soak- 
age is extremely small. 

•'The quantity of water must depend on the condition of the soil and the particular 
crop that is planted. Grass land may be overflowed for a time, but in the cultivated 
land the water is restricted to the small waterways, and thus reaches the roots of the 
plant by soaking into the pulverized earth. If allowed to flow over the surface there 
would be danger of sun-scald, as with us after a long-continued rain. Irrigation re- 
quires much attention, as too much or too little water are alike detrimental to the 
crops. 

" The subject of irrigation is being thoroughly studied by both farmers and gardeners, 
and will, no doubt, be reduced to a system. Wheat is sown from February to late in 
April ; it never rusts or is winter-killed, but produces almost uniform returns. While 
40 to 50 bushels to the acre is not uncommon, yet, I judge, the average is not over 20 
bushels. Late sowing and the unskillful management of the water is the cause of this. 
I have no doubt that 40 bushels is no more than a fair average, with good culture. 
The farm of Peter Magnus, five miles from Denver, has come up to this average, and 
with 75 bushels of oats, while his vegetables have more than doubled the best of our 
market gardens. 

"Many people have the impression that this irrigating is a muddy, dirty piece of 
work, hut such is not the case. If there is any one kind of labor that will keep one 



EEPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 11 

out late in the evening, it is the turning the water down the rows of vegetables, or 
through the plat of flowers in the front yard. 

" Iii the planting of trees the land should be well moistened before planting, and not 
to allow the roots to be flooded at any time, as with most fruit and forest trees too 
much water is fatal. A poplar, willow, or cotton wood, will bear an amount of water 
that would destroy most other trees ; for this reason do not plant them with others. 
Cuttings of willow 5 feet long, with one end inserted a foot in the earth near the line 
of the ditch and placed one foot apart in the row, will soon make a substantial fence, 
and also be of value for shelter; for shelters from the mountain winds are very essen- 
tial, both for profit and comfort. 

" The demand for garden-truck, for farm products, and fruits, will stimulate irriga- 
tion and make it a prominent feature in the active industries of the day ; but the sys- 
tem of irrigation is one of co-operation, and is best accomplished by united capital. 
The farmer who settles on the banks of a stream may construct his own ditch, or three 
or four may join in the work. But the business has outgrown this state of things, 
and now demands careful engineering and large amounts of money for the construc- 
tion of the main ditches. The practice in these cases is the formation of a ditch 
company, who sell the water for a certain sum, which is about $2 per acre per annum. 
But a more economical plan is the colony system, as practiced at Greeley and the Chicago 
colony of Longmont. In this case the common fund is used to purchase the land and 
construct the ditches, leaving an annual charge for repairs only. The Kansas Pacific, 
the Denver Pacific, and the Union Pacific, have large tracts of lands, all of which they 
offer to colonies and individuals intending to improve them, at very low rates. Aside 
from the purchase of lands and the construction of ditches, there is no community of 
interests, for any person can sell his interest at any time he pleases, subject to the con- 
ditions of improvement that may be required, for all must improve their purchase 
within the year, or their money ($155 the share) is to be returned. All the shares of 
the Greeley colony have been sold. In addition to the railroad lands, which are held 
at $3 to $4 an acre, the alternate sections are subject to homestead or pre-emption, but 
not subject to private entry. Thus it will be. seen that this new country is not cursed 
with land speculation, but may be by a water monopoly, but which should be guarded 
against by the new settler. There are at this time openings for a thousand colonies 
Tike those mentioned, all of which may be equally successful if their affairs can be 
administered by men of as sterling integrity as those in charge of Greeley and Long- 
mont. It is doubtful if a better plan for a colony can be devised than the two now 
in such successful progress. 

" Settlement of the plains. — Can these pastoral plains be settled ? All say ' Yes, but it 
must be by the herdsman, who, like Jack of old, may drive his herds from plain to 
plain, and lead a sort of nomadic life.' But there are elements that man will employ 
to make, in time, a mateiial change in the whole aspect of the country. For twenty 
miles on each side of the railroads named the companies own one-half of the land, 
while the other half is held for settlement in small holdings not exceeding 80 acres 
each. At present the pasturage is so abundant that no one is desirous of purchasing 
the land, but by and by the owners of stock wish to locate, and they make a pur- 
chase near some station, as is now the case along the Smoky Hill River, where the 
herdsmen have made purchase of from 2,000 to 10,000 acres each of these railroad 
lauds. Within these are the Government lands that they cannot purchase, for they 
are reserved for homesteads and pre-emption, in tracts of 80 acres. This will give them 
the use of these alternate sections for a long time, for, in their present condition, they 
are only valuable for pasturage. But Mr. R. S. Elliott, the industrial agent of the 
Kansas Pacific, has proved that trees may be grown on these plains without the aid of 
irrigation, at least if this year's experience proves anything. As there is an abundance of 
water in all that country, by the siuking of wells, generally at from 20 to 30 feet, a suffi- 
cient amount could be obtained from this source for the purpose of starting shelter belts, 
say of four rods wide, to surround each 40-acre tract. Mr. Elliott has also shown that 
wheat, oats, barley, corn, and potatoes, may be grown to a reasonable extent, and that, 
so soon as any considerable surface can be covered with this kind of reticulated forest, 
the rainfall would be insured and the evaporation materially lessened, both of which 
would aid in the growth of common farm-crops. 

"If the railroad company would direct Mr. Elliott to inclose at each station a 40- 
acre tract, with a belt of deciduous trees, four rods in width, I have no doubt that it 
would hasten the settlement along the line of road more than any one cause. While 
Mr. Elliott has demonstrated the fact that trees will grow on the plains, yet people 
must see the plan carried out to a practical conclusion. Our agricultural colleges are 
attempting to teach practical agriculture by planting small plats of grouud, and at 
one industrial university some hundreds of these plats may be seen, all of which will 
prove nothing to the practical man who is accustomed to plant crops by the acre. 
Now, this experiment of Mr. Elliott proves nothing to the settler, and only proves to 
the man of science what may be accomplished. But if you can show a shelter belt of 



12 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

a mile in length inclosing 40 acres of land, that fact can be comprehended ; but if you 
only show a little patch of trees, that fact carries no conviction with it, no more than 
the 4-foot-sqnare patch of wheat at the university will carry any weight with the 
farmer of broad acres ; both of these plans are simply an attempt to bore auger holes 
with a gimlet. At Omaha the railroad management were talking of planting a belt 
of trees on both sides of the road for a hundred miles. This is talking business, and 
will lead to good results. 

" The experiments of Mr. Elliott are good so far as they have gone, but they need to be 
carried further, for practical results must be reached. I would provide well-water at 
each station, to be used in case of need, and this well should be on the place, for I 
would put a family on each tract, and have other crops tested at the same time. The 
next 40 acres would need only three-fourths of a mile of forest belts to inclose it. 

" The ground should be trench-plowed not less than 8 inches deep, and this work 
should be done either in the autumn or very early in the spring, in order to be moistened 
by the March showers ; and then, too, the planting must be done early, before the 
plants begin to start into growth. For this reason I would obtain plants in the fall, 
and keep them through the winter in moist soil. These little things may not appear 
of much importance, yet they are so. 

" Trees to be planted. — No two varieties of trees should be planted together, but each 
should have its allotted space in the belt. First in order would be European larch ; 
the second, Osage orange; third, white ash; fourth, the soft and ash-leaved maples 
and elms. The walnut and soft wood would have little attention on this dry plain, as 
would be the case with the pine family. To make this belt of a mile would cover 
7-{\r acres, and the trees at 4 feet each way would number 3,000 to the acre, or nearly 
25,000 plants. Two-year-old larch plants cost now $10 per 1,000; Osage orange, $2 ; 
white oak, $4 ; and the maples from $1 to $2 ; elm, $3. 

" In all the district west of the Missouri the winds are severe at times, and it would 
pay to plant shelter belts ; in fact, farmers are beginning to plant them west of Omaha. 
For all the distance to Grand Island, on the Union Pacific Railroad, the prairie winds 
have seriously injured the corn. 

" The climate. — We may safely estimate that one-half of the rural population of this 
new district have gone there in most part to improve the health of some one or more 
members of the family. Among these, lung complaints are the most prominent. 
There appear to be few cases that are not benefited in a greater or less degree. Certain 
it is that, even with this influx of ailing ones, the doctors have small practice. This 
is, no doubt, due in part to the disposition to give nature a chance to try her hand. 

"In all new countries there are many unpleasant tilings. Homes must be made, 
trees must have time to grow, new associations must be formed, and there is fiction in 
all new things. Before one breaks up his home for a new one, all these things should 
be discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages well weighed. If you have a 
family, first go out and select the location and provide a home. At Greeley and Long- 
mount the success has been most wonderful, yet many suffered almost untold hardships 
before they had the wherewith to shelter the family from the cool nights and the 
changing days. 

" If possible, join some well-regulated colony, for all colonists goto make a home, 
and ought not to be called pioneers, at least of the old stamp, who simply drive back 
the Indians, and when civilization comes up to him sells his claim and moves on. 

" The several land-grant railroads are anxious to form the nucleus of new settle- 
ments, and offer excellent inducements to active men with or without families, though 
the former are more highly prized, for they are both producers and consumers, and 
thus add more largely to the business of the road. 

" There is one thing more that should not be forgotten ; that is, the Rocky Mountains 
are destined to be the great resort of health and pleasure-seekers, not simply for the 
summer months, but for the whole year. The cool, bracing mountain air, and the 
absence of sudden changes, give it the advantage of a mountain climate, without its 
damp atmosphere and cloudy skies." 

STOCK-BAISING ON THE PLAINS. 

So much has been written by Dr. Latham and other gentlemen of experience, in re- 
gard to the advantages and facilities for raising stock on these plains, and the remark- 
able fact, proven by many years of past experience, that it will subsist through the 
winter upon the summer-cured grasses as they stand on the ground without shelter or 
other care than for the herdsmen to guard them from separating and wandering off, 
that I need not recapitulate. 

Below I give the list of stock, so far as I have been able to obtain reliable data, which 
has been pastured this season in the localities named, along the Union Pacific Railroad 
between the waters of the North Platte and the Laramie plains. It has been intro- 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 13 

duced here within the last two or three years, and very largely within the present year. 
There is abundance of room for many times as much more : 



Name of owner. 


Residence. 


Where herded. 


What kind. 


Number of 
head. 








Stock cattle 


15, 000 

1,800 






do 






do 




1,000 


Dr. Latham and Captain 
Coates. 


Laramie 


do 


Stockand calves . 
Stock 


4,000 


fin 


300 




do 


Dairy cows 


li 


Halev 


do 


700 






Stock 


400 








American 


300 


Clarence King and N. B. 
Davis 






500 




do 




150 


J W Iliff 








12, 000 




. . do 




Beef and stock.. 


5,000 
600 




do 




J H Durbiii & Bro 


do 


..do 




600 




do 






200 




do 


do 




700 


J M Carey & Bro 


do 






700 


Nuckolls & Gallagher 


....do 


Platte 




3,000 
150 




do 




Milch cows 

do 


W. D. Pennock 


... do 




40 










1,300 


W G-. Bullock 


Fort Laramie 






4,000 




do ... 




3,500 






do 




1, 500 






do 




'200 










300 


- Tracy 








500 


— Whitcomb . 




Box Elder 


Beef cattle 


1,000 








200 


Generals Duncan, Perry, 

and Short. 
Keith &. Barton 








2,400 




North Platte 




3,000 






do 


Yearling 

Stock 


1,300 






do 


500 






do 


do . . 


9,000 
800 






. . do . 


Beef cattle 

Beef and stock.. 
Stock 


Taylor Galylord & Co 




Cachea la Poudre 

Pine Bluffs 


5,000 
700 


D. C. Tracy 


Pine Bluffs 






do 


350 


Powell 






do 


1,500 
400^ 








. . . do . 


E. Whalen 




do.. 


..do . 


250 






do 


do 


250 






do 


do 


100 


H. B. Kelley 




do 


.... do 


750 






do 


do 


125 


W. G. Bullock 




..do 


do . 


125 


P. M.Phillips 




do 


do 


2,100 






North Platte 


do 


1,000 








American 


80 











The editor of the Western World has published in his New York paper the following- 
observations in regard to stockand grazing on these plains, being tbe result of what 
he saw and learned while on a recent tour through here to California. In his estimate 
he includes the large herds in the neighborhood of the junction of the two Platte Riv- 
ers, and in the Humboldt Valley, and is therefore larger than the list of herds princi- 
pally in Wyoming. I have introduced these remarks from the Western World in order 
that stock -growers in the States may see what impartial non-residents say of this great 
industrial interest on the late "American Desert:" 

" On a recent visit to the Pacific coast over the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, 
I took some pains to ascertain the amount of cattle now being pastured along those 
roads. I have more than once insisted that the belt of country on the Laramie Plains, 
and just east of the Rocky Mountains, and a portion of the Humboldt Valley adjacent 
to the Pacific road, embraced some of the finest grazing lands on the continent, and 
had heard a good deal recently about the large herds which have been driven from 
Texas and the Indian Nation during the past year, to be fattened on the nutritious 
grasses of the Platte River and Laramie Plains, preparatory to shipment over the rail- 
road to the markets of the East. I knew that the business had become a large one, but 
had no idea of the extent to which it has attained — a business, be it remembered, 



14 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

which is but just commenced, as two years ago there was not a hoof in the whole coun- 
try, except draught-cattle belonging to trains, and a few ranchero's cows, where to-day 
there are not less than 140,000 head of cattle, 5,000 horses, and over 75,000 sheep, on 
the Union Pacilic west of Fort Kearnej'. 

" On the Laramie Plains, and east of Laramie Mountain, Wyoming, are a great many 
small herds of from 100 to 500 beef and stock cattle, and large flocks of sheep, of which, 
we were unable to learn the names of the owners, and which many good judges esti- 
mate would swell the figures far above the aggregate which I have just ventured to 
state. The greater portion of these cattle were driven hither from the southern part 
of Texas. It is estimated that more than 400,000 head have been driven out of Texas 

during the past year alone." 

****** 

" There is no doubt in my mind that the tendency which has attained the above 
startling proportions in a single year is a permanent one, and will grow with every 
season. For a space fully seven hundred miles long and two hundred broad, along 
the base of the Rocky Mountains, there is one of the finest and cheapest grazing 
countries in the world. The valleys, bluffs, and low hills, are covered with a luxuri- 
ant growth of grama or ' bunch ' grass, one of the most nutritious grasses that grows. 
It grows from 6 to 12 inches high, and is always green near the roots, summer and 
winter. During the summer the dry atmosphere cures the standing grass as effectually 
as though cut and prepared for hay. The nutritive qualities of the grass remain un- 
injured, and stock thrive equally well on the dry feed. In the winter what snow falls 
is very dry, unlike that which falls in more humid climates. It may cover the grass 
to the depth of a few inches, but the cattle readily remove it, reaching the grass with- 
out trouble. 

"Again, the snow does not stick to the sides of the cattle and melt there, chilling 
them through, but its dryness causes it to roll from their backs, leaving their hair dry. 
There is no stabling required ; stock ' run out the year round,' and the cost of keeping 
is just what it will cost to employ herders — no more— '•and with the great Pacific road 
traversing it from east to west, it is always within a few days of the eastern markets. 
The advantages are great, and a new and vast industry is springing up." 

SHEEP AND WOOL. 

This is a subject of so much importance to the welfare of the people and Territory 
of Wyoming, that I have thought proper to invite attention to the wonderful adapta- 
bility of this region, to the cheap and successful raising of sheep and wool. I there- 
fore introduce tin; remarks of the Hon J. W. Kingman, United States judge of this 
Territory, on the subject. His opportunities for observation on these points have been 
extensive, and, after a residence of two and a half years in this region, he is so well con- 
vinced of the success which must follow the business of sheep and wool growing on 
these elevated plains, that he has now introduced a flock of 3,000 sheep upon his 
ranche near the head of Crow Creek, fifteen miles west of this city. The judge has 
favored me with the following account of his flock and the manner of treating it : 

" Laramie City, Wyoming Territory, 

" September 18, 1871. 

"Dear Sir: Your favor of the 15th instant, asking for a statement of the facts in 
reference to our flock of sheep, is received, and it gives me pleasure to reply. 

" The flock consists of 3,000 long-wooled sheep, selected with great care in Iowa last 
summer. We have avoided all merino blood, because we wish to cross up with the 
Cots wold as rapidly as possible. 

" Our object is to see if this region will not produce a superior quality of combing 
wool, as well as a superior mutton. We are confident that the character of our climate 
and grazing is so peculiarly adapted to the nature and habits of sheep, that we can 
carry the improvement of our flocks, in both these respects, to a degree of perfection 
never attained before. 

" Indeed, the improvement in the health, appearance and condition of the sheep 
thus far is so marked and uniform that one could hardly believe it to be the same flock 
that came here a few months ago, and warrants the utmost confidence in a perma- 
nent and valuable improvement. 

" Our cool, dry, even temperature ; our hard, gravelly soil ; our short, rich grasses ; 
our clear, pure water ; our aromatic, bitter plants and shrubs, and our frequent alka- 
line ponds and licks, must all contribute to the robust health of the animal and pro- 
duce a growth and development of all its functions in their highest perfection. 

u It has been said that the long-wooled sheep are not gregarious, and cannot be well 
herded in huge flocks. We have not found this difficulty. To be sure. 3,000 makes a 
large flock, and they require plenty of room ; but if they are well left alone they do not 
get in each other's way, aud do not care to stray. One man can watch them, and watch- 
ing seems to be all the herp they need. 



EEPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 15 

n We build, to be sure, large yards, and long, open sheds, to protect them from the 
storms, and to keep off the wolves at night; but we shall soon be rid of the wolves 
altogether, and the bluffs afford sufficient shelter at all seasons of the year. 

"There are in this section of the Territory, besides our flock, one belonging to Gen- 
eral King and others, of about oue thousand; Colonel Dana's, of a thousand; Mr. 
Homer's, and others, about a thousand ; and several parties are now in the States pur- 
chasing flocks to bring here. There are also the large flocks belonging to Messrs. 
Creighton and Hutton, of ten or twelve thousand ; and quite a number of small lots, 
numbering two or three hundred each. 

" Some of these flocks have been here two or three years, and each year have shown 
a surprising improvement. This is particularly so where they have not been too closely 
herded, but have been permitted to go out and come in pretty much as they pleased. 
The wool has increased in quantity and fineness, and the mutton has improved in flavor 
and quality. 

" There seems to be no doubt that the best quality of mutton can be grown here, 
pound for pound, as cheap as beef; and if so, then sheep-raising must be profitable if 
cattle-raising is. 

" Very respectfully, yours, 

" J. W. KINGMAN. 

" Dr. SrLAS Reed, 

" Surveyor General, Wyoming Territory." 

I also introduce another excellent and comprehensive letter from Judge Kingman, 
written to Dr. H. Latham some months since, and published this summer in the doc- 
tor's valuable pamphlet on the subject of stock and wool growing in this high, dry, 
rolling country, which is so favorable for the growth of the healthiest sheep and. the 
most valuable fibers of wool. 

Letter from Judge Kingman. 

" Laramie City, Wyoming Territory. 

"Dear Sir : Your favor of a recent date, asking the result of my observations on 
the Rocky Mountain portion of our country in its adaptation to sheep-raising, is re- 
ceived ; I hasten to reply. 

" It will be remembered that the natural habitat of the sheep, as well as the goat 
and the antelope, is an elevated mountainous region. They are provided with an exter- 
nal covering and a constitutional system fitting them to endure its rigors and subsist on 
its peculiar herbage. They may be removed to other regions, it is true, and by careful 
husbandry made to flourish in hot climates, on artificial or cultivated food, and even 
in rainy and muddy localities. 

"But the multiplied diseases to which they are subjected are convincing proofs that 
they ore exposed to influences unnatural and uncongenial to their constitutions. They 
require a dry, gravelly soil; a clear, bracing, cool atmosphere ; a variety of short, nu- 
tritious grasses ; and they love to browse on high 1 }' aromatic plants and shrubs, like 
the willow, the birch, the hemlock, and the artemisia. In such circumstances, they 
are always healthy, vigorous, and active, and produce the maximum of even-fibered 
wool and the best of high-flavored meats. 

" That we have millions of acres answering in all respects to the exact requirements 
for the best development of sheep, in the production of both wool and meat, is demon- 
strated by the countless number of antelope that annually swarm over the country, 
and seem to have no limit to their increase but their natural enemies, the wolves and 
the hunters. They are always in good condition, healthy, fat, aud active ; and this is 
particularly noticeable in the winter and spring, when it might be supposed they 
would be reduced by cold and want of food. 

" It is well understood by wool-growers that the great difficulty in producing a 
staple of uniform evenness and uniform curve is the variable condition of the sheep 
at different seasons of the year. The animal organization cannot produce the same 
quality of growth in extreme cold weather, on dry hay, that it will produce in warm 
weather, on fresh grass. The result is, that the best quality of wool cannot be grown 
where the sheep are exposed to the extremes of climate, and particularly where they 
cannot be kept in uniform health and good condition. If this is true in the growth of 
wool, it needs no argument to prove that it is true also in the production of whole- 
some and nutritious meat. A generous diet of rich and various food is required to 
keep up a rapid and constant growth, and it is quick growth combined with good 
health that makes the choicest meat. 

" I have been familiar with sheep-raising in New England for many years, and although 
sheep, do pretty well on the rocky hills there, yet they are subject to a frightfully long- 
list of diseases, every one of which, however, is ascribed to local and not inherent 
causes. The one great cause, exceeding all others in the variety and extent of its evils, 
is the long-continued rainy weather. The ground gets saturated with water, the feet 



16 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

"become soft and tender with the soaking, and foot disease is propagated by inocula- 
tion with surprising rapidity. The fleece gets wet, and remaining so for several days 
keeps the animal enveloped ; this produces pustules, scab, tetter, and other cutaneous 
diseases; everything and every place is soaked and dripping with water during those 
long storms, and the sheep are compelled to lie on the wet ground and contract colic, 
scours, and stretches, and other bowel diseases. But here, on our hard, porous, gravelly 
soil, in a bright, equable climate, with a dry, bracing atmosphere, having abund- 
ance of nutritious grasses and a great variety of desirable food, the flocks will hud 
every circumstance contributing to their perfect growth and development. This is 
such a country and climate as they naturally inhabit. Their constitutions are fitted 
to its peculiarities, and will produce here their highest possibilities. 

" There is no doubt that any breed of sheep will do well here, but for various reasons 
I would advise the introduction of the best qualities of mutton-sheep in preference to 
the fine-wooled animals. In the first place they are hardier and more prolific, and 
will undoubtedly improve faster; and in the second place, while it is possible to over- 
stock the market with wool by importation from foreign countries, it is not possible 
to overstock the meat-market. We have now 40,000,000 of people, and the annual 
increase is about 3,000,000; our people are all meat-eaters, the price of meat in our 
large cities is enormously high, and the annual production by no means keeps pace 
with the demand for consumption. But in addition to all this, the actual return in 
wool, from a llock of medium-wooled sheep, will nearly equal in value the net product 
of a fine-wooled flock. They produce heavier fleeces, and the price of wool bears a bet- 
ter ratio to its cost. 

"Most of our flock-masters are purchasing the sheep-flocks of New Mexico and the 
extreme Western States, with the expectation of getting good animals by crossing. 
This may be done, it is true, but I do not think it likely to result satisfactorily. It 
requires too much care and judicious selection, as well as long-continued effort, to get 
rid of bad qualities and fix permanently good ones. We can get sheep, by going further 
east, which have been carefully improved for fifty years, and in which characteristics 
have been developed by a scientific breeding which we may not hope to equal. Such 
a flock will cost more to start with, and will be worth more, but may not have cost 
more, all things considered, after a few years. 
" Very respectfully, yours, 

" J. W T . KINGMAN." 

The following interesting remarks and statistics from the comprehensive pen of Dr. 
H. Latham upon the important subject of the wool product of the United States as 
compared with foreign countries, and the reasons why the Rocky Mountain country 
can successfully compete with the most favored foreign wool countries, deserve a place 
in this article. The doctor has given large attention to this subject, and his facts and 
inferences are Avorthy of the highest consideration of those who wish to avail them- 
selves of the remarkable advantages which attach to these elevated table lauds, for 
the commercial prosecution of this great industry. I copy from the doctor's late 
pamphlet : 

" Perhaps there is no other branch of American industry deserving so much atten- 
tion as sheep and wool growing. It is deserving of it, because in all countries and in 
all ages flocks answered the first necessities of man, yielding both food and clothing, 
because everywhere, either fed from valley, plain, or hill-side, they have yielded a 
golden harvest. 

"In the present age, wool and the textures manufactured from it stand above com- 
petition, either in the immense values invested in them, or in their contribution to man's 
wants and luxuries. A writer says of the Paris Exposition : ' The emotion most viv- 
idly excited by a general survey of the products of the world's industries was admira- 
tion of the wonderful qualities of that liber, which is capable of producing objects and 
fabrics infinitely surpassing in variety and appearance, as well as in application, those 
produced from any other material ; thus showing itself to be, of all fibrous materials, 
that of the first necessity to man.' This fiber, we observe, is made more perfect than 
any other by the chemical elaborations of an animal of high organization, thus sur- 
passing silk, which is derived from an animal of low organic structure. Its specific 
gravity being the least of all fibrous substances, its tissues are the lightest, warmest, 
and most healthful; such are the qualities of fiber, which have led every industrious 
nation to the culture of flocks as the first necessity of its people, which have caused, 
in every manufacturing nation, the demand to constantly exceed the supply, which have 
transplanted colonies from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, and have carried the 
shepherd emigrant to the steppes of Russia and the plains of La Plata. Such qual- 
ities, and the necessities of man, have made the wool production of various nations 
reach such enormous figures as the following : Great Britain has an annual produc- 
tion of 260,000,000 pounds ; Germauv, 200,000,000 pounds ; France, 123,000,000 pounds ; 
Spain, Italy, and Portugal, 119,000,000 pounds; European Russia, 125,000,000 pounds; 
making, in Europe, 827,000,000 pounds as her annual production. In Australia, South 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 17 

America, and South Africa, 25,000,000 pounds ; in the United States, 100,000,000 pounds ; 
North American provinces, 10,000,000 pounds; Asia, 470,000,000 pounds; North Africa, 
49,000,000 pounds ; the whole wool product of the world reaching the enormous grand 
total of one billion seven hundred and three million pounds. In consideration of such fig- 
ures, no one will deny that wool and sheep growing should take first rank among our 
domestic industries. It deserves more marked attention than it receives, from the fact 
that, of all productions of the temperate climate, it is the only one that we are de- 
pendent on for our supplies from foreign countries. 

" The wool product of the United States for 1870. — In 1870 our wool product was 
100,000,000 pounds, valued at $38,000,000. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1870, 
we imported of wool and its fabrics to the value of $42,229,385, while 10,000,000 peo- 
ple in the Northwest are working early and late to raise grain, which is to he shipped 
for foreign markets, the profits of which, after paying for thousands of miles of expens- 
ive transportation, barely pays the producer day wages ; they buy clothing manufac- 
tured in Englaud, France, and Prussia, from wool grown in South Africa, Australia, or 
the Argentine Confederation." 

For the year ending June 30, 1889, we exported $82,238,773 worth of bread-stuffs, 
which cost three-fifths of it to get it to the sea-board. The same year we exported only 
$315,881 worth of wool and its manufactured textures. As some one remarks, ' not one- 
half enough to pay for our imported playing-cards." 

Where sheep are raised. — Sheep flourish and are profitable in almost every variety of 
climate; on all kinds of soil, in all latitudes, and all altitudes. This is evidenced from 
the fact that the following countries raised wool for exportation to this country in 
1870 : England, Scotland, Dominion of Canada, all other British Possessions in Amer- 
ica, British West Indies, British Africa, British East Indies, Australia, Cuba, Hamburg, 
Bremen, France, Brazil, China, Argentine Republic, Dutch West Indies and Guiana, 
Mexico, Italy, Venezuela, Belgium, United States of Colombia, Uruguay, Russia on the 
Baltic and White Seas, Russia on the Black Sea, Chili, Denmark, Danish West Indies, 
Austria, and Turkey, countries embracing every known temperature, rain and snow 
fall, and every character of soil, from the marshy lands of Holland, many feet below the 
sea, to the high steppes of Asia, between the lofty Himalayas, 15,000 feet above the 
sea ; from countries under the Equator to 67° north of it. Thus we see how readily 
the sheep adapts itself to such a variety of circumstances. In Holland and Belgium, 
ou the coarse, winter herbage of their low lands, the flocks yield the same long silken 
flossy fiber that they do on the shorter, drier, and sweeter grazing of the hills of Mora- 
via and England. The fine wool of Paulaes, Infantado, Rambouillet, Magritte, families 
of the merino, is grown in Spain, France, Algeria, Cape Colony, on the La Plata, and 
in Australia alike. It is true that they adapt themselves to all these various circum- 
stances offered, and climate, but they are acquired habits. 

The true home of the sheep is on the hills, mountain sides, and on the elevated plains 
and table-lands of the interior of continents. Covered as they are with a natural 
covering against cold, their especial dislike is rain and moist soils. They flourish best 
on the slopes of the lofty ridges or ranges of mountains, where the soils are from the 
wear and washes of the rocks of these great upheavals, giving them light, porous, 
gravelly soils, through which any excess of moisture leaches away. 

The first history of sheep was in the interior of Asia, at altitudes fully as high as 
the interior of our own continent. 

In the low lands the herbage is coarser and better adapted for animals which are not 
of so fine au organization as sheep. Countries of heavy rain-fali keep the covering of 
the sheep saturated with water, which is not conducive to health or the production of 
large quantities and fine qualities of wool. 

The table lands of Australia. — The center of Australia is a high table-land with a small 
rain-fall, and there the finest fiber is grown that the merino sheep is capable of pro- 
ducing. From that source comes the great bulk of wool from which is made the fine 
" French broadcloths " and " French merinos." It is sold in special markets in London, 
and it attracts buyers from all the manufacturing centers of the world. The physical 
conformation of New Zealand is much the same as Australia, the climate is materially 
the same. There, in a few years, they have developed the production of the best fibers 
for delaines. On the great pampas of South America, which are high, diluvial plains, 
comparatively dry the whole year, and entirely so for ten months in the year, they 
export 100,000,000 pounds of fine fiber, which is eagerly taken for '* clothing fabrics." 
They have developed the growth of the celebrated " mestiza," the supply of which is 
not equal to one-twentieth of the demand. 

In the interior of Africa, when the colonies had found that the climate was too dry 
for farming, their attention was turned to wool-growing, and from the scanty herbage 
growing there, and from a barren waste with a few naked Cafixes, it has taken front 
rank with the producing countries of the best wool. 

The great arid interior of Asia is the favorite home of the sheep and goat. From 
the condition of most of her people in the scale of civilization, it is noted more for the. 

enormous quantity of the production than its fine quality. 

# *"* * # * * * *. 

2SR 



1 8 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

Adaptability of the trans-Missouri country for sheep-raising. — All of the trans-Missouri 
country west of the ninety-eighth meridian to the crest of the Snowy Range, has less? 
than six weeks of rainy season, which is in the month of May, after the cold weather. 
Usually there is no rain-tall after November till May. The snow is- dry and round, 
and does not adhere to the sheep. There is not an acre, of all the billion of acres of 
country, that does not furnish summer and winter grazing for sheep. There is winter 
grazing enough in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, to graze all the sheep in the 
United States, Australia, and the Argentine Republic, the aggregate of whose wool 
product is 300,000,000 pounds, worth #100,000,000. 

There is plenty of water for countless flocks in the net-work of streams that drain 
our mountain ranges of their snows. 

Entire absence of disease. — There is an entire absence of the marshy lands and wet 
soils so destructive to sheep in the form of " foot-ail." The sheep of New Mexico, 
Colorado, and Utah have not, after ten years in the two latter Territories, and forty 
years' experience in the former, developed any local diseases. The universal testimony 
has been, in all our Territoties and States west of the Missouri River, that there have 
been no diseases among the flocks, and that they have improved in the quality and 
quantity of the fleeces. 

Profits of wool-growing. — The great fact of winter grazing will enable our flock-mas- 
ters to make wool growing exceedingly remunerative. In many instances which have 
come under my observation here on the plains, Hocks have yielded one hundred per 
cent, upon investment in them. 

In countries where either the natural resources or protection makes wool-growing 
profitable, it makes most wonderful advancement. 

The wool industry of South America, South Africa, and Australia docs not date back 
more than a quarter of a century, and now they export 250,000,000 pounds. Iowa, in 
1850, had 258,228 sheep ; in 1869 she had 2,&32,24L 

There are many remarkable instances of rapid increase in wool-growing, but there 
is nothing that shows how rapidly the production can be increased, and how wonder- 
fully the demand increases, so much as the figures of England's importation thirty 
years ago. Then, 74,000 bales were imported from Germany ; 10,000 bales from Spain 
and Portugal ; British Colonies, 8,000 bales; other places, 5,000 ; total, 98,000 bales. In 
18(54 there were imported from Australia, 302,000 bales: Cane of Good Hope, O-UIOO bales ; 
South America, 91,000 bales ; and 219,336 bales from other sources ; in all, 688>336 bales. 
Australia now supplies more than three times the whole amount of foreign wool con- 
sumed in England thirty years ago, and the production of South America exceeds the 
whole consumption then. 

The fui ure of the irool interest of the Northwest. — With such a sheep and wool-grow- 
ing country as we have here, " endless, gateless, and boundless;" with such a great 
increasing home and foreign demand ; with such examples of rapid increase in sheep 
and wool productions, who shall doubt that in twenty years we shall rival Australia 
and South America in not only the qnantity but the quality of their wools, and that 
the wool-buyers from all the great manufacturing centers of the world will visit our 
plains in search of the "fiber" susceptible of such wonderful and varied uses, and 
that with our wool production there will spring up manufactories here and there that 
shall rival Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Leeds, in England,, and Rheims, El- 
Beufs, and Roubaix, in France, in the magnitude and beauty of their fabrics? 

Along the whole length of the Union Pacific Railway, along the Central Pacific 
Railway, in the valleys of the thousands of streams, bordered with timber for build- 
ings and fences, these untold millions of acres of luxuriant grazing lands, where sheep 
can be put down from New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and other States for two 
dollars per head, shepherds can be hired for $30 to s40 per mouth, who can readily 
herd 3,000 head. Thousands of tons of hay can be cut on all the streams. 

Bates of freight to Eastern markets. — Wool has been carried by rail from San Fran- 
cisco to Boston for $1 10 per hundred pounds. Double-decked sheep-cars, carrying 
200 sheep, can be had from the base of the mountain to Chicago markets for $150, 
thereby putting down fit wethers iu market for 75 cents per head. Dressed-inutton 
carcasses are delivered from the Rocky Mountains, in New York, for $1 75 per hundred, 
car-load rates. 

Growth of Wyoming sheep industry. — The large introduction of sheep into this Terri- 
tory during the past season is very gratifying. The correct and valuable information 
that has been spread over the country by Dr. Latham, Judge Kingman, and others, has 
attracted the most deserved attention, and the result is that large numbers of sheep 
have been brought in this summer. I hear also of other large flocks that are to come 
next spring ; arid I scarcely need say that half the sheep of the United States could 
find room and food upon our mountain plains without being too much crowded. 

The following is a list of the principal flocks and names of owners : 

Colonel E. Creighton & Co., on Laramie Plains 10, 000 

Winslow, on Laramie Plains 1, 500 

Sargent, Thomas & Co., on Laramie Plains , 2, 000 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 19 

Moulton & Co., on Laramie Plains 2, 000 

Dana & Boswell, on Laramie Plains 1, 000 

Judge Kingman, Crow Creek , 3, 000 

James Moore, Lodge Pole 9,000 

Maynard, Lone Tree 1, 500 

General King & Co , ' 1, 000 

Party from Soceo, Mexico 2, 000 

Emory Boston 3, 000 

Carmichael 200 

EXAMINATION OF MIXES AXD MOUXTAIXS. 

I thought it might prove serviceable to the interests of the Territory to occupy all 
the spare time I could from office duties, this summer, in a personal examination of the 
coal and £old mines of Wyoming, and of the geology of her mountains, as far as could 
be done without danger from Indians. Last year no one was safe without a military 
escort more than a few miles from the railroad, on account of them. This year, a small 
number of armed citizens conld safely venture into any of our mountains except the 
Big Horn, north of the North Platte River, which is claimed as hunting ground by 
Red Cloud and his tribe. 

My first journey was commenced on the 2d of June to the 

COAL MINES. 

Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company. — The mines of this company are near our 
western boundary, in Bear River Valley, two miles north of the Union Pacific Rail- 
road, at Evanston. They are the wonder of all who visit them, because of their enor- 
mous thickness, the fine quality of the coal, and the facility with which it is mined. 
The vein is over 25 feet thick, but only from 8 to 10 feet in height is being taken out 
at present. The several openiugs of the mines are on the edge of a high hill facing 
west. The vein dips east about 25° or 30°, and the indications are that it extends to 
a great distance, there beiu<^ 
respect unlike that at Bear River City, eight miles southeast. 

The several engines now being erected there are thought sufficient, with the requi- 
site number of miners, to produce 1,000 tons per day, which amount would barely sup- 
ply the demands of the Central Pacific Railroad and the mines of Utah and Nevada. 
The majority interest in this valuable property is now owned, I am informed, by par- 
ties largely interested in the Central Pacific Railroad Company. 

For the following items of interest relating to the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron 
Company, and its operations, I am indebted to Mr. Charles T. Deuel, the superintendent 
at the mines. 

The capital stock of the company is $1,000,000. The officers are David D. Colton, 
president and treasurer ; Fox Diefendorf, vice-president ; H. K. White, secretary. 

There are three openings now being worked. The depth or length of main drift of 
mine No. 1 is 36(5 feet ; thickness of vein, 26 feet ; mine No. 2, depth 512 feet ; thickness 
of vein, 30 feet ; mine No. 3, depth 165 feet, thickness of vein, 32 feet. The length of 
the coal-field on the face is three miles. 

In the three openings are five steam-engines, with an aggregate of 132 horse-power, 
and in mines No. 2 and No. 3 are four steam-pumps, two in each mine, and each pump 
of 10 horse-power. There are employed 175 Chinamen, miners, and laborers ; 27 white 
men, miners, and laborers ; 23 mechanics ; 5 miscellaneous ; being a total working 
force of 230 men. 

The present daily yield of coal is from 2^0 to 280 tons, gross, with mostly inexperi- 
enced hands. The company expect to produce by January 1, 1872, 650 tons daily. 

The coal is now sold at the following points : San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, 
San Jose, Oakland, Alameda, and Valejo, California; Reno, Virginia City, Gold Hill, 
Battle Mountain, and Elko, Nevada ; and at all points on the Central Pacific Railroad, 
and at Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah ; and the company supplies the Central Pacific 
Railroad and all its branches and steamers. 

There are thirty-five dwelling-houses for the accommodation of the workmen already 
erected, and fifteen more in course of construction, to be completed by December 1, 
1871. There are also at the works three engine-houses, and suow-sheds over the open- 
ings, three blacksmith-shops, three sets scales and houses, one carpenter-shop, two 
stables and corrals, one powder magazine, a store and office, besides an ice-house, 
butcher-shop, and numerous small buildings. 

Wyoming Coal and Alining Company. — The Evanston mine of the Wyoming Coal and 
Mining Company adjoins that of the Rocky Mouutain Coal and Iron Company on the 
south, and is an extension of the same vein just described, though not so thick; and it 
dips slightly to the south, with its main dip to the east. The product of this mine is 
used mainly on the Union Pacific Railroad. It is worked by one engine, and its build- 
ings are of stone, and quite substantial. . 



20 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

The parties comprising this company are interested in the Union Pacific Railroad 
Company, and most of the coal they produce is used for railroad purposes. They have 
other mines in operation at Rock Springs, and at Carbon, all under the superintendence 
and management of Mr. Thomas Wardell. 

From him Ave learn that at the Evanston mine the company has now fifty men em- 
ployed. He gives the thickness of the coal seam at 26 feet, it being intermingled with 
a few thin layers of slate, none, however, over 5 inches in thickness. The roof of the 
mine is fire-clay. The analysis of the coal gives water 8.58, ash 6.30, volatile 35.22, 
carbon 49.90. During the year 1870, they mined from this mine 12,398 tons of coal, and 
the total amount mined to December 31 of that year was 13,360 tons. All but 20 tons 
of this was used by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. 

The Rock Spring coal-veins, fifteen miles east of Green River, have been brought to 
the surface in the central portion of the Green River basin by a local upheaval in their 
vicinity, from the south toward Quaking Asp Mountain. Thus their dip is northward, 
under the railroad. The veins are from 4 to 8 feet thick, and the coal is of a superior 
quality, being hard lignite, and quite free from sulphur and bitumen. 

I have no doubt that these coals would smelt our iron ores when property mixed, 
just as they come from the mine in the raw state, without coking. 

The Messrs. Blair have a valuable mine at this place, from which Fort D. A. Russell 
and other places are now supplied. 

Mr. E. P. Snow, our United States assessor, has also lately opened a valuable mine at 
this point, which is part of the same stratum as the other two just named. I introduce 
the following statement from him, descriptive of his mine, which he has furnished at 
my solicitation : 

" Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 20, 1871. 

" Dear Sir : I respond very cheerfully to your letter of the 16th of September request- 
ing information concerning the Rock Springs coal. 

'•The mine from which this coal is taken is 400 yards from Rock Springs station, on 
the Union Pacific Railroad, three hundred and fourteen miles west of Cheyenne. It is 
an open-drift mine. The vein is 10 feet thick, and literally inexhaustible. Its course 
is from southeast to northwest, dipping toward the latter point. 

"The coal is very free from foreign substances, is overlaid with slate, and has below 
a bed of sandstone, from both of which the coal cleaves freely without waste. It is a, 
somi-bituminous coking coal, of a glistening black color, and brilliant conchoid al frac- 
ture. It does not soil the fingers nor crumble into dust on exposure to the atmosphere, 
but bears transportation and handling better than any coal west of Pennsylvania. 

u The analysis of this coal, as given by Professor E. T. Cox, State geologist of Indiana, 
is as follows : Specific gravity, 1.257 : weight of a cubic foot, 78.37 pounds ; coke, 54.40 ; 
volatile matter, 45.60; ash, white, 0.50; fixed carbon, 53.90; water, 7.50; gas, 38.10. 

" As will be seen by this analysis, the proportion of ash to carbon is very small, com- 
paring favorably, both in this respect and in the quantity and quality of the gas and 
coke produced from a given quantity of coal, with any other coal obtained from the 
Rocky Mountain coal-fields. 

"It is superior to all other coals in this region, both for domestic and mechanical 
purposes. Thus far it is the only coal that has been discovered in the Territories suit- 
able for the manufacture of gas. For blacksmiths' use, it has superseded charcoal, 
both in Wyoming and Colorado, aud is the only coal used in this Territory by black- 
smiths. 

rt It has been successfully tested at the smelting-works in Omaha, Nebraska, in the 
reduction of the Utah ores, but owing to cost of transportation has not been exten- 
sively introduced there. For steam-generating and domestic purposes it has no supe- 
rior in the West. It burns with a clear, bright flame, and great heat, making very 
little ash, and is absolutely free from clinker or sulphur. 

" The mine has been worked only one season, but the coal is liked so well that the 
demand for it is increasing with great rapidity. 
" Respectfully, 

"E. P. SNOW. 

u Silas Reed, Esq., 

" Surveyor General" 

The following items respecting the Rock Spring mine of the Wyoming Coal and 
Mining Company are furnished by Mr. Wardell : 

Work was commenced in November, 1868, and the company now employ 85 men at 
this mine. The thickness of the coal is 10 feet, and the analysis gives water 7.00, ash 
1.73, volatile 36.81, carbon 54.40. 

During the year 1870 they mined 21,109 tons of coal, and the total number of tons 
produced from November, 1868, to December 31, 1870, was 38,308. Of this total amount, 
;^5,359 tons were consumed by the Union Pacific Railroad, and 2,949 were shipped to 
private parties. 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 21 

The Van Dyk and Hallville coal mines are on the border of the railroad, in this vicin- 
ity. They are owned by capitalists in San Francisco, though not extensively worked 
now. The coal of the Van Dyk is the same in quality as those just referred to, and will 
be in large demand when the silver mines of Utah come to make a proper trial of them 
in smelting their ores. 

The Carbon mines are on the western edge of the Laramie Plains, about fifteen miles 
northeast of Elk Mountain, and the coal strata were uplifted to the surface by the same 
forces which upheaved the Elk and Medicine Bow Mountains, after the beginning of 
the tertiary period, though acting in lesser degree. 

These mines produce largely for the use of the railroad, and are but a small part of a 
large coal-field in that neighborhood, as shown by the discoveries of my deputy survey- 
ors and others while operating in that vicinity this season. 

As far east as the vicinity of Cooper Lake a vein of 15 feet in thickness has been dis- 
covered this summer, not far from the railroad, which may be of much importance in 
future in the manufacture of the iron ore of Laramie Mountain, twenty to thirty miles 
to the eastward. 

Mr. WardeH furnishes the following items respecting the operations of the Wyoming 
Coal and Mining Company at their Carbon mines : 

They commenced work in August, 1888, and now employ 110 men at these mines. The 
thickness of coal is 9 feet. The analysis gives water 6.80, ash 8.00, volatile 35.48, fixed 
carbon 49.72. 

During the year 1870 they mined 53,671 tons of coal, and from August, 1888, to Decem- 
ber 31, 1870, the total production was 89,789 tons. Of this amount the Union Pacific 
Railroad Company consumed 86,608 tons, and 3,181 tons were shipped to private 
parties. 

I continued this journey into Weber Canon, where I noticed last year the silver-bear- 
ing formation as I passed there on the railroad. I found I had not been mistaken, for 
quite lately some of the Utah silver miners had noticed the similarity of the rock to 
that found at Bingham's Canon and the heads of the two Cottonwood Canons, and had 
made several discoveries of argentiferous galena, (one or two now owned by Messrs, 
Fillmore, Millis, and others,) six or eight miles north of Weber City, within the same 
range which crosses the railroad a little west of the ' ' 1,000-mile tree." The formation is 
limestone, of the Silurian age, I believe, and considerably metamorphosed by the moun- 
tain upheavals on the west side of them. 

I predict the discovery of valuable mines in this locality, as the formation is proba- 
bly only a northern extension of the rich silver districts further south in Utah. 

Near the same locality, but a little farther east, the triassic and cretaceous rocks 
have been upheaved, and have brought up a large exposure of shales at their junction 
with the immense conglomerate rocks which form the grand scenery of Echo Canon. 

It is probable that coal will be found here some day by boring, and, perhaps, at no 
great depth. The coal veins of Coalville, not many miles southward of this point, are, 
said to dip northward under this conglomerate rock toward the railroad ; and, as it is 
of the tertiary age, there is no ostensible reason why coal strata should not be found 
under it. 

We find a very large thickness of this conglomerate rock overlying the rich coal- 
measures at the mines of the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company, before alluded 
to, which, in reality, is a part of the Echo Canon rock, forced asunder by the upheaved 
arm of the Wasatch Mountains at Wasatch Station. 

EXPEDITION TO LARAMIE MOUNTAIN. 

My second journey was made on the 21st of June to explore the Laramie Mountain 
from the Cheyenne Pass road northward to the Sabylle "Pass." 

We formed a party«composed of Colonel Reynolds and Lieutenant Varney of Fort D. 
A. Russell, Major H. Glafcke, of this city, and myself, and were in the mountains five 
days. 

We w T ent up Crow Creek to the foot of the mountain, where the north fork of the 
creek leaves the canon for the plain, with a view to discover, if possible, some evidence 
of coal at the junction of the tertiary rocks with the older formations, at the eastern 
base of the mountain. When within a mile or two of its base, we found a stratum of 
conglomerate along the banks of the creek of the same character and age as that 
which overlies the coal veins at Evanston. Its dip eastward is but a few degrees, and 
upon reaching the edge of the mountain (twenty miles north of west from Cheyenne) we 
found the fracture by upheaval quite abrupt, having brought up and exposed to view 
the shales which belong to the lower tertiary and upper cretaceous formations, while the 
silurian limestone had been carried up with the mountain and spread over a large sur- 
face, instead of standing vertically against the granite wall, as it does toward Granite 
Canon southward and most of the distance northward to the Chugwater Creek. 

The bed of shales at this point is very massive and has every appearance of having 
once been associated with coal-beds below, and presents large blocks of hematite iron- 



22 REPORT OF SUKVEYOR GENEEAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

ore, such as accompany our coal veins. The indications of coal here would warrant 
the experiment of boring a few hundred feet, perhaps less than 200 feet, to test the im- 
portant question of workable coal-veins at this base of the mountain. 

There are other exposures of this hind at Horse and Chugwater Creeks. Fifteen 
miles southwest of Cheyenne, a vein of coal was found very near the surface, and sup- 
plied fuel to this place before the railroad reached the thicker veins in the Laramie 
Plains. 

On entering the canon of this fork of Crow Creek the formations on the south side 
stand vertically, and we found strata or bands of black gneiss, and veins of rusty 
quartz, intermixed with porphyritic granite, indicating that the ores of the precious 
metals may be found in this vicinity. During the Pike's Peak excitement in Colorado, 
the base of this range for miles along this vicinity was staked into " claims " by those 
who discovered a similarity to the formations found in some of the mining districts in 
Colorado. 

Thence we passed around the west side of Table Mountain to our camp in Cheyenne 
Pass, where wefound one of Clarence King's parties of topographical engineers, also en- 
camped for the night. Next day we crossed to the western edge of the mountain, rind- 
ing only the coarse, red, feldspathic granite composing the crest, as at Sherman, along 
the railroad, though presenting numerous veins of quartz, which characteristic con- 
tinues northward to the head of the Sabylle, at the fifth standard. Instead of finding 
the top of the mountain moderately level, as where the railroad crosses, we found it 
impassable for wagons except along its western crest. 

Here is the water-shed which divides the waters which flow east and west, and where 
the head branches of Crow, Lodge Pole, Horse, and Chugwater Creeks take their rise. 
These branches cut entirely across the mountain, wearing it into every conceivable 
shape, and furnishing grassy valleys well suited to summer grazing. There is but 
little timber on this mountain, only here and there small groves of yellow pine, Avhich 
have been nearly destroyed by fires within the last few years. Good sheep-grazing is 
found all over it. 

The water-shed is formed chiefly by the outcropping crest or edge of the Silurian 
rocks, (lime and sand.) which dip west toward the Laramie Plains. It is remarkable 
that these rocks should have withstood the fearful drift agencies of early ages so much 
better than the granitic portion of the mountain, which averages nearly fifteen miles 
in width, and most of the top torn away by powerful glacial action. 

We found numerous deposits of magnetic iron ore on tin; table-land between Horse 
and Chugwater Creeks, in the southern part of township -20 north, ranges 70 and 71 west, 
which is accessible from the Laramie Plains, and will meet the coal there and be manu- 
factured into iron. 

Farther north, toward the Sabylle Pass, and before reaching the junction of the 
ninth guide with the fifth standard, the silurian or silver and copper bearing lime- 
stone becomes much thicker, and presents the high-water shed-crest which is so notice- 
able from Cooper Lake Station, on the railroad. It is here that outcrops of silver and 
copper veins, and also veins of plumbago, have been discovered this summer by some 
of my deputies. The external indications will warrant a pretty thorough search there 
fer these minerals in paying quantities. 

Our return route was through the Iron Mountain Township, which is now surveyed, 
and this greatest of iron mountains on the continent is found to be on the odd section 
belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, but so near to its eastern line and 
the edge of the twenty-mile limit of granted lands as to create doubts who will yet pos- 
sess it until after the survey of the opposite township along the railroad, in the vicinity 
of Cooper Lake Station, twenty miles west. 

This mountain of ore presents the appearance of an immense trap-dike, forced up 
through the inclosing granite. The main branch of the Chugwater cuts through it, pre- 
senting a tine view of its dike-like character, and affording convincing proof that it is a 
massive vein of iron ore, going down to depths unknown, like true fissure-veins of 
other metals. The elevation, at its base, is 6,500 feet, only about 450 higher than 
Cheyenne ; its summit being 637 feet above the base at the creek. 

The valley of Crow Creek, and the eroded valley along the base of the mountain, 
afford an excellent route for a railroad to convey the ores to this point on the Union 
Pacific. The ore has been tested on a small scale at Omaha, and found to produce the 
best of iron. It will be tested on a larger scale, with Wyoming coal, very soon, with 
very little doubt of entire success. 

In the event of success, the railroad company w r ill find it to their advantage to erect 
smelting furnaces and rolling-mills, which wili soon be needed on a large scale, for the 
necessary repair of their great extent of road. 

We found indications at the base of the mountain, at Horse Creek, and about the 
Chugw^ater, that , coal may be found by boring to the lower stratum of the tertiary, 
which is not far below the surface, in the valley. The position of the coal, where 
found to exist, is near the bottom or lower strata of the tertiary rocks. 

My next trip was commenced on the 21st of July, to examine 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 23 

THE SEMINOLE MOUNTAINS. 

These mountains lie west of the North Platte Canon, about twenty-five miles north of 
the railroad from Fort Steele and Rawlins Springs Stations. 

An expedition had been inaugurated in June by General Bradley, of Fort Sanders, 
and General Thayer, of Nebraska, (with some others,) to make search in those moun- 
tains for silver, some old hunters giving assurance that argentiferous galena had been 
found there. I was politely invited, but unable to join the expedition. 

The result was that, instead of silver, a very rich gold-quartz vein was found by this 
party, chiefly through the instrumentality of an experienced gold mine prospector, Mr. 
Ernest, of Laramie City, who accompanied the expedition. The news of the rich dis- 
covery soon spread abroad, ami miners from all quarters flocked there and soon made 
further valuable discoveries of silver as well as gold. 

Upon making known to General H. A. Morrow, commanding at Fort Steele, my 
desire to visit those mountains with a view to examine their geological character and 
form some estimate of their prospective value in furnishing productive veins of the 
precious metals, the general offered to accompany me with the necessary protection 
against a possible meeting with hostile straggling Indians, that being one of their 
haunts last year. We thus prepared for a trip of ten days. Captain Deweese, with 
part of his cavalry, and Lieutenants Waterbury and Pearson, formed the balance of the 
expedition. 

Our course was north over the great cretaceous ridges on the east side of the Platte, 
crossing- to the west side of the river about twelve miles north of Fort Steele, thence 
north about fifteen miles to the great canon of the Platte through these mountains. 

The river along this last-named distance cuts through the western edge of a coal basin 
of considerable magnitude, lying mainly east of the Platte and between the railroad 
and the mountains on the east side of the Platte Caiiou. We found along our route 
the outcrop of several coal veins ; but between these and the mountain we crossed 
over the outcrops of all the formations which exist between the coal deposits and the 
azoic rocks, 

The southern side of the mountain is faced with a thick stratum of white sandstone, 
probably of the triassic age, dipping southward at an angle of about 60°. Next be- 
neath it I found about a thousand feet in thickness of the silurian, silver-bearing 
limestone, with the usual Potsdam sandstone stratum separating it from the black gneiss 
nucleus of the mountain. 

Not being able to enter the canon, either on foot or horseback, I passed over the 
mouutain on foot until I encountered a side canon, which enabled me to descend into 
the main canon in the central part of the mountain. The walls of this canon are nearly 
perpendicular for over a thousand feet in height, presenting scenery of the boldest 
and grandest character. 

It is most remarkable that this Platte Canon should have remained so long unknown 
to the people of Wyoming. Neither Fremont nor Hayden mention it, though having 
passed within fifteen or twenty miles of it. Indeed, I never had heard it spoken of by 
any one in Wyoming; nor do any maps that I have seen afford any evidence of such 
an abrupt and grand passage of the North Platte through the mountain rim of the 
Laramie Plains basin. 

In my last year's report I stated that the Platte River made its exit from the basin 
of the Laramie Plains through the rmss at the Red Buttes on the old overland road ; 
and I was so informed by those most familiar with the country. 

The course of the Platte through this canon is nearly north, continuing the same 
course eight or ten miles after its exit from the cafion, then bending around a lone 
granitic mountain and passing off northeastwardly to receive the Sweetwater River, 
about ten miles further on. This is its most westerly bend. 

We then coursed west along the south base of this mountain about ten miles to 
Deweese's Pass, in which we camped the second night out. We named this pass for 
Captain Deweese, because he was the first to go through it with wagons. On the 25th 
we camped on Deweese's Creek, on the north side of the mountain. 

The Ernest gold mine is half a mile west of Deweese's Pass, and about two miles 
from the western end of this mountain. That portion of the mountain west of the 
pass is higher than the eastern, though not covering half as much area. Near this 
mine is the highest peak, which we named Bradley's Peak, in honor of General Brad- 
ley, who had so praiseworthily gotten up the expedition for mineral discovery. I meas- 
ured the height of this peak with my barometer, and found it to be 9,500 feet in alti- 
tude, being about 3,000 feet higher than Fort Steele, and 3,000 feet above the base of 
Independence Rock, on the Sweetwater. 

The gold mines are all on this western part of the mountain, and numerous valuable 
discoveries had already been made. No sedimentary rocks rise much above its base, 
the whole formation, including the central ridges and other high peaks, being black 
gneiss, except on the western end, which is red gneiss, so red as to look like a mountain 
of iron ore as you approach it, as it is far more laminar or slaty than the black gneiss. 



24 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

The black gneiss, however, has a mottled appearance, resembling fine-grained trap 
in some respects, the " pepper and salt" appearance arising probably from a slight 
admixture of decomposed feldspar. 

Seminole Mountain No. 2 is situated five miles west of the one just described, (say 
a trifle north of west,) the intervening valley being occupied by a low mountain of 
gneissoid rock, nearly imbedded in the drifting sands which form a heavy belt of this 
material along the southern border of these ranges, all the way from the Platte to 
Green River. These isolated mountains, made so by frequent gaps or passes north and 
south between them, are really but parts of the same range extending westwardly 
from Laramie Peak to the old " South Pass," at the head of the Sweetwater. 

.Sand Creek runs north through the pass at the east end of Seminole No. 2, heading 
in the plain south of it, and joining the Platte River a few miles above the mouth of 
the Sweetwater. 

Seminole No. 2 is about twelve to fifteen miles long and three to five miles wide, ter- 
minating at Muddy Creek. Near its west end is another pass, formerly, and properly, 
called Seminole Gap, but now known only as " Whisky Gap," and termed so because of 
the destruction of a load of whisky at the large spring in the gap by Captain Brown, 
under orders from Major O'Farrell, of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, in July, 1862, who, 
Avhile on his way from Independence Rock to old Fort Halleck with troops, was annoyed 
by some whisky peddlers. 

Formerly a considerable travel passed through this gap to the Sweetwater mines at 
South Pass. 

The mines of this mountain are principally silver, and the district named after one 
of the discovered, Mr. Ferris. The geology of the mountain presents quite a dissimi- 
lar appearance to that of the one only five miles east of it. Its upheaval was sudden 
and violent, wonderfully contorting the gneissoid rocks, which now present a vertical 
position, with nearly an east and west trend. 

The different varieties of gneiss alternate from black, gray, and red, and on the 
eastern end, where exposed to view, present a singularly striped appearance vertically. 
The axis of upheaval was on the north side, where the older sedimentary rocks are 
but little elevated or disturbed, while on the south side the silurian-line strata which 
composed that face of the mountain, were uplifted with so much violence as to be 
thrown back past verticality ten to twenty degrees. Here are three or four peaks, one 
of 10,000 feet altitude, so sharp that I found it difficult to climb to its summit. The 
others are similar in height to Bradley's Peak. 

There have already been a number of discoveries of silver ore here, and judging both 
from the geology and the character of the ores found, I have no doubt that productive 
and valuable silver mines will be opened out in this Ferris district next season. 

I have forgotten to notice the character of the azoic rocks, in that part of Seminole 
No. 1 between the Platte Canon and Deweese's Pass. This is also gneissoid, very black, 
and much like hornblende in color and appearance, showing numerous veins of white 
quartz, with occasional intercalations of feldspathic rock of a light-pink color. This 
part of the mountain has not been prospected for gold, because the miners believe 
more in ochreous-colored quartz than they do in the white. But rich veins have been 
found under white quartz outcroppings, and I have very little doubt but good veins of 
both gold and silver will be found in this part of the range. 

Our fifth encampment, July 26th, was on Sand Creek, north of the gap, which has a 
fine broad valley of meadow land, from which large quantities of hay were obtained 
in the days of overland travel along the Sweetwater. Here on the 27th we took the 
old hay-road northward across the tertiary plain to the Sweetwater River, sixteen miles 
distant. On our right, eight or ten miles away, we passed a lone mountain of feld- 
spathic granite, with several high peaks, which Ave had visited on the 25th, it being 
situated on the east bank of the Platte at the point of its western bend. 

Just before reaching the Sweetwater we passed an isolated range of the same char- 
acter of mountain, trending off to the southwest for eight or ten miles. Upon exam- 
ination I found it to be intersected with numerous dikes of trap, but so black and 
crystalline in structure in those I examined as to resemble gneiss more than trap. 

Arriving at the Sweetwater, ten or twelve miles above its mouth, we proceeded up it 
about four miles to Independence Rock, (so famous in the early days of overland 
travel,) and encamped there on the night of the 27th. The shape of the rock is much 
like that of a large turtle-shell, but has a more striking resemblance, perhaps, to the 
oblong dome of the Mormon tabernacle at Salt Lake City, though larger. We found 
it literally covered with the names of emigrants for many years following 1849, 
chiseled in the hard f eld-spathic granite. Here, too, we saw the telegraph poles and 
much of the old wire that had aided in flashing intelligence across the continent dur- 
ing the early periods of overland staging. But not least in interest here is the old 
overland emigrant road, so broad and so deeply worn into the surface of the plains as 
to look more like the route of an army of the magnitude of that of the ancient king 
Xerxes, than the trail of the modern pioneers who settled the mountain Territories and 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 25 

the Pacific States. In sandy and loamy portions of the road it is often 60 to 80 feet in 
width, and worn (or blown) out from one to two feet in depth. 

From Independence Rock to its junction with the Platte, fifteen to twenty miles, the 
valley of the Sweetwater must be twenty-five miles broad. It affords abundance of 
hay and grass for grazing purposes. The river passes through about the center of the 
valley. The mountains on the north side curve round to the river at the Devil's Gate, 
five miles northwest of the rock, and thence trend westward, the river continuing 
along near their base for many miles, leaving a plain on the south side of from ten to 
fifteen miles in width, to the base of the Seminole range. 

The mountains on the north have less of mineral character than I expected to find, 
being almost wholly feldspathic, with very little quartz and mica. They, however, 
present numerous trap-dikes, which show a northeast and southwest course, some being- 
very thick, 100 to 200 feet, and they may yet be found to contain veins of the precious 
metals. These mountains were uplifted at a very ancient date, long before the deposit 
of the sedimentary rocks of the adjoining valley, which are horizontal. The crests 
of these ranges rise about a thousand feet above the valley. 

On the 28th we turned southwest across the plain to Seminole Pass, (Whisky Gap,) 
and encamped in the beautiful mountain cove within the pass, at the spring, and upon 
the old Rawlins and South Pass road. We found game abundant in this region, ante- 
lope, black-tailed deer, and elk, the latter sometimes in droves of fifty or more. 

Here the Seminole range almost dies out, the pass cutting no rocks but the narrow, 
sharp ridge of old red sandstone and siluriau limestone, standing in a vertical position, 
and continuing so along the south face of the mountain to the east of us. 

West of this gap the Seminole range takes the name of Sweetwater Mountains all the 
distance to South Pass, but for the first fifteen miles it consists of only a group of de- 
tached hills. Farther west, opposite the Three Crossings, the range rises again, and 
is clothed with a thick growth of pine, which supplied the telegraph poles for the old 
telegraph line. Flere, also, argentiferous galena has been discovered, and I have very 
little doubt but that valuable silver deposits will be found there. 

On the 29th our eighth encampment was at Brown's Canon, thirty miles southeast 
towards Fort Steele, and across a very uninviting plain of sand and sage brush, with 
but one watering place. 

The tenth day out brought us back to Fort Steele, (30th July,) twenty-three miles, 
feeling well paid for our examination of the country, and that we could safely recom- 
mend the Seminole Mountains to the attention of experience, industry, and persever- 
ance, as a very promising new mining district. 

I have not written of the several new mines discovered there this season, as I would 
have done had not General Morrow kindly consented to do so for me, he having a bet- 
ter opportunity to watch the development of the veins and the character and percent- 
age of the ores than I could have. His close proximity to the mines gave him every 
facility to obtain from miners and others the most reliable information, which is em- 
bodied in his intelligent and comprehensive statement, which I have the pleasure to 
here introduce : 

" Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming Territory, 

" September 27, 1871. 

" Dear Sir : At your request I give you a brief description of the Seminole gold 
mines, situated thirty miles north of this post. These mines, from appearances, are 
destined to prove immensely valuable, and a short account of the manner in which 
they were discovered will be interesting : 

" Two years ago Lieutenant R. H. Young, Fourth Infantry, while out on an Indian ex- 
pedition, met three men coming from the direction of the Seminole Mountains, and hav- 
ing in their possession a quantity of quartz, which they said was gold-bearing, though 
it showed.no free gold. They gave Lieutenant Young several specimens, which he 
brought to the post and used for paper-weights. 

II Last June, General L. P. Bradley and Captain Thomas B. Deweese, with the appro- 
bation of General Augur, commanding the military department, organized a party to 
explore the Seminole Mountains for silver, having previously ascertained by assay that 
the specimens of Lieutenant Young were very rich in silver, the assay showing up- 
ward of $2,000 to the ton. The result pi this expedition was the discovery of the 
Seminole gold mines. 

" General Thayer, late United States Senator from Nebraska, accompanied the party, 
and in addition to other claims to distinction may add that of a successful prospector 
for gold. 

" The three men met by Lieutenant Young were all subsequently killed by Indians, 
and it is not certainly known now whether the present mines are the same as those 
discovered by them ; but from dissimilarity in the ores it is thought they are not, the 
present deposits being gold, while the rocks in the possession of the men were silver- 
bearing. 

" Seminole Mountains. — The chain of mountains of which the Seminole range is a 



26 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

section has its rise about the forty-first parallel of latitude, near North Park, in Col- 
orado, and runs in a northerly direction to Fort Fetterman, where it bends suddenly to 
the west, and then trends a little north of west until it meets the Wind River range 
near South Pass. 

" From North Park to Fort Fetterman, and thence to the point where the North 
Platte River breaks through, making a grand canon, the range is known as the Black 
Hills. West of the Platte Canon it takes the name of the Seminole Range, which it 
retains until it unites with the Sweetwater Mountains, a little east of the one hundred 
and eighth meridian line. 

" The mines are situated in the Seminole Mountains, about ten miles west of the 
Platte. 

" Geologically these mountains belong to the igneous or metamorphic period, as is 
shown by the character of their mineral-bearing rock, as contrasted with the succes- 
sion of later strata reclining against their sides. The highest peak, Bradley's Mount- 
ain, is 9,500 feet high, as determined by an aneroid barometer; but the mtiiu eleva- 
tion of the range is thought to be something less than 8,000 feet. The average width 
of the range is about three miles. 

" The character of the mountain-rock indicates that it has come up from a great 
depth, being highly metamorphosed ; but the slopes are not, as a rule, precipitous, and 
there is hardly any portion of the mountain, in the vicinity of the mines, which does 
not admit of roads being built without much labor or expense. 

"The mines, as before stated, are located eight miles west of the Platte, in a group 
or cluster of elevations, of which Bradley's Mountain is the highest by nearly a thou- 
sand feet. The principal deposits thus far found seem to be con lined to a single eleva- 
tion, known in the district as Gold Peak. In this, as in other respects, these mines 
bear a strong resemblance to the silver deposits of White Pine, in Nevada, which are 
confined to a mountain three miles long and from two to two and one-half miles broad, 
and which has an altitude of 1,500 feet above the surrounding valleys. 

"The country has been imperfectly prospected, and it may be that hereafter the de- 
posits of gold and silver will be found to have a more extensive range than at present 
ascertained. Many claims, perhaps one hundred, have been located, but the true-fis- 
sure veins do not exceed a dozen or fifteen. 

"The Finest, the Mammoth, the Break of Day, the Jesse Murdock, the Slattery, the 
Edward Everett, and several other mines, have well-defined quartz veins through 
which gold is disseminated in large proportions. On these and some other claims the 
work of sinking shafts and running tunnels is being pushed forward rapidly. In all 
of the above-named locations free gold is found. 

"It has been thought by some persons that the various fissure-veins in this district 
are ' spurs' from the Ernest lode. In this view I do not concur for two reasons: first, 
because the strike of the several veins or fissures does not concur in direction; second, 
because the vein-matter of the several veins is not by any means the same. 

"Iu some instances rich copper-colored quartz largely predominates; in others, the 
quartz is deeply discolored by protoxide of iron and other bases. Again, in some of 
the veins the quartz is almost a pure white, while in others it is greatly decomposed. 
If anything may be inferred from the dip of the several fissures, this may also be urged 
against the theory of a singlc-fixsiirc formation, for I observed that the dip varies in the 
several mines from almost a vertical to a slope of a few degrees. The dip is not the 
same in any two veins. 

"I regard it as quite certain that there are at least a dozen true-fissure veins in the 
district already developed, and that others will be found hereafter I have no reason to 
doubt. 

"I ought to add here that, as a rule, the ledges run parallel, or nearly so, with the 
axis of the mountain. A true-fissure vein has never been known to give out, though 
it may 'pinch' or be -'faulted;' and hence the only question, as it seems to me, in this 
district, is as to the quality of the ores. 

" On this subject all that can be stated is, that numerous assays of the ores have 
been made in Omaha, Denver, and Salt Lake, and in every instance a very large per- 
centage of gold is reported. In several instances the ores have gone as high as $100 
to the ton, and in one instance an assay made at the office of D. Buel &Co., Salt Lake, 
showed $250 to the ton, as reported to the writer by Colonel Buel. 

" In many of the claims the vein-matter is decomposed quartz, with sulphurets of 
iron and copper. Experience in California and elsewhere shows that veins composed 
of such matter hold on well, and increase in richness as you descend. 

"In some of the locations I observed that a well-defined outcropping of quartz, after 
sinking upon it a few feet, was followed by a well-defined vein, usually of the same 
width as the outcropping, of decomposed minerals of the most brilliant hues, blue and 
red predominating. This is of frequent occurrence in many excellent districts, and is 
regarded usually as an indication of richness in the lode in which it appears. 

"I suppose such phenomena to be the result of water infiltrating from the surface 
into the fissure before it was wholly filled, or from secretions laterally from the inclosing 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 27 

or u-all rod; or it may bo by injection from below. Worm water is a powerful solvent, 
and it is by no means impossible that the quartz arid other filling matter of the fissure 
has been lixiviated, leaving a residuum of matter as we here find it. 

"However the result may have been produced, it is quite certain that this decom- 
posed matter, whatever it may be, is in all cases extremely rich in gold. By the rude 
process of a little water and a pan considerable quantities of gold may be washed 
out of it. 

"A word as to the country rock, and I will close this already too long though hastily 
written letter. Tbe displaced strata are, as a rule, cretaceous, but along the southern 
base of the mountain there crops out here and there a red sandstone which I suppose 
to be Potsdam. Whether it is or not will have to be determined hereafter by its rela- 
tive position or its characteristic fossils. The ejected rocks forming the' mountain 
proper, and which are the wall-rocks of the lodes, are micaceous slate and gneiss, both 
highly metamorphosed by heat. 

"In company with yourself I visited the greater portion of this mountain, and I 
think you concluded that it would become a valuable mining district, the rock being 
black and red gneiss, with more of the trappean appearance than that of the South 
Pass mines, which you thought a good indication of richer mines. 
" I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

"HENRY A. MORROW. 

" Dr. Silas Reed, 

"Surveyor General, Cheyenne, Wyoming." 

EXPEDITION TO LARAMIE PEAK. 

My next and fourth expedition was to Laramie Peak, in company with Judge J. W 
Kingman, Major C. Howe, Major H. Glafcke, Lieutenant Varney, and six gentlemen 
from New England, graduates of the Technological School of Boston — Professor R. H. 
Richards, and Messrs. G. R.Lincoln, Elmer Fannce, G. H. Pratt, R. Whittier, and E. W. 
Rollins — who were desirous of examining the geology of some of our mountains, and of 
killing some of our countless antelope, elk, and deer, having spent several weeks in the 
mines and mountains of Colorado. 

On the 7th of August we reached the Iron Mountain, which was examined by the 
party with much satisfaction. Thence we passed northward over the mountain to the 
head of Sabylle Creek, and encamped upon it eight or ten miles north of the fifth stand- 
ard, and just below its junction with the old Fort Halleck and Fort Laramie road, which 
runs through the Sabylle Pass. 

Here we remained a clay to examine the mountains west of the road. To our great 
astonishment we found an almost total change in the geological features and charac- 
teristics of the Laramie range in this vicinity. The red sienite gives place largely to 
the black and gray gneiss and gray schistose granites. 

I visited a low, oblong, rounded mountain, about five miles west of our camp, which 
glistened in the sun like glass as I approached it. I found it a small detached mountain 
of black gneiss, very slaty in structure, and trending east and west, the line of stratifi- 
cation running the same way, and the layers standing vertically. It presents a very 
striking exhibition of black gneiss slate, with some show of white quartz veins. On 
its north side, the gray alternates with the black gneisses, yielding more readily to the 
eroding effects of the elements, and contains larger and richer-looking veins of quartz. 

On the east side of the creek are several detached mountain knobs, the crests of which 
are formed by the high outcropping edges of the silurian limestone, facing west, but 
which dips down their eastern slopes at an angle of 40° to 60°. 

In this vicinity, the red granites no longer continue to constitute the main rock of 
the Laramie range, the gneissoid rocks here beginning to contend for the mastery, and 
continue thus to do for the next thirty miles, to the Laramie Peak. The range north- 
ward is made up for this distance of detached mountains, and some very high peaks. 
Between these the great glacial currents from the west tore their way through, and 
grooved out the river valleys and broad ravines of the adjacent plains eastward. Four 
deep and rugged canons cut through the entire range, the most southerly being the 
Sabylle Canon, then the Laramie River Caiion, the Collins Canon, and the Laramie 
Peak Canon. 

The line of upheaval is also changed ; for while the greater force seems to have been 
exerted north and south along the course of the range, it has been thwarted by east and 
west liiu^s of upheaval, thus folding up the formations in the latter direction and afford- 
ing intervening grooves for the early play of the glacial forces. 

In passing northward along the range, we found the gneissic and granitic beds in 
nearly a vertical position, black and gray gneiss alternating with seams of quartz and 
feldspar, and now and then a bed of rather massive feldspathic granite. Sometimes 
these are very thin, and the gneissic beds predominate, thus frequently presenting the 
appearance of black, massive dikes of black gneiss forced up through the granites. 



28 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

We found the strongest evidences of gold and silver veins in this vicinity, along the 
Sabylle Creek, but had not time then to explore for these minerals. 

We followed down the Fort Laramie road to John Richards's ranch, on the east side 
of the Sabylle; thence across the Sabylle and the Laramie River in a northwestern 
direction about twenty miles, to the mouth of Collins's Canon, at the sixth standard 
line of the United States surveys. 

We camped about a mile qast of the mountain, on the trail of my surveyors, who had 
only two weeks before run the sixth standard line over the mountain ; but on looking 
up at its high unbroken crest in front of us, it was thought impossible, by most of our 
company, to find any pass for wagons. While hunting for a canon or passage through, 
I coasted north along the base of the mountain fifteen to eighteen miles, and crossed to 
the north side of the north fork of the Laramie River, in the vicinity of Big Cottonwood 
Creek, where I found a large plateau, some miles in extent, of black gneiss exposed to 
view, and exhibiting a fine display of quartz veins, some running with and some across 
the edges of the slate, which has a nearly vertical dip or position. This, I believe, will 
prove to be a tine field next season for prospectors for gold and silver. It is almost an 
exactly similar formation to that in which the Sweetwater gold mines are found. 

Next day, having found Collins's Canon, through which deputy surveyors Thomas 
and Hay, and twenty cavalrymen for protection, had passed with four wagons, we 
determined to make the attempt to follow their trail through the mountain. 

It is the blindest-looking canon I ever saw entered with teams — so crooked and nar- 
row, the sides so high and vertical, and its mouth so closed by jutting walls of rock, 
that no human being would suppose a passable canon existed there until after entering 
it, and not then but for the trail. Every one Avould exclaim, every few hundred yards, 
that he was at the end of it, and hemmed in by towering mountain walls. We found 
an older trail within it than that of the surveyors, for old. poles and brush filled many 
of the crossings of the tortuous spring-branch. 

I have since learned that the famous mountaineer, Bridger, who in early days knew 
most of the passes and canons throughout the Rocky Mountains, piloted Colonel Wil- 
liam O. Collins, of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, with a squad of his soldiers, through 
here, from Fort Laramie to Fort Halleck, at Elk Mountain, in October, 1862. A pass 
for a wagon-road between the two forts had been found in August of that year, (the 
Sabylle Pass,) and all the transportation wagons took that route, it being a very good 
road and the canon short. But Colonel Collins wished for a shorter route, and Bridger 
told him of this canon and led the squad through it. The colonel afterward used it 
for his mounted men, and it took the name of "Collins's Cut-off;" but it has not been 
used since, except by hunters, and will hereafter bear its proper name. Colonel Col- 
lins passed through it in March, 1863, with forty-six of his cavalry, for Fort Halleck, 
not dreaming of danger from a sudden change of weather; but before he could cross 
the Laramie Tlains a sudden snow-storm overtook him, filling the air, blotting out his 
trail, and so turning him out of his course that he well-nigh lost his life. Several of 
his men scattered; remained out all night, and were found dead next day on the plains, 
south of the point where Medicine Bow Station, on the Union Pacific Railroad, now is. 
Mr. Herman Haas, of this city, was one of that ill-fated party, but successfully reached 
the fort with the colouel. 

I have thought it proper to preserve this little historical narrative of an important 
canon, and also that of Whisky Gap, at the Seminole Pass, associated with the same 
Ohio regiment in the late war; for Collins's Canon "will be visited often in future years 
by lovers of grand, picturesque, and awe-inspiring mouutain scenery. The beautiful 
groves of pine along its sides, and upon the mountains throughout its length, add vastly 
to the interest of a trip through it, to say nothing of its narrow defiles, its ever-chang- 
ing, zigzag course, and the towering mountain crests which overlook it. 

It follows closely along the south side of the sixth standard-line, all the way 
through the mountain, which line crosses over the summit of the highest peak of the 
range, (a sort of twin-brother to the Laramie Peak,) and to which my deputies have 
attached the name of Reed's Peak in their field-notes; probably from chagrin that I 
should have selected so rough a line to be surveyed. Its altitude is about 10,000 feet, 
it being a trifle less than Laramie Peak. At its base, three miles or more from our 
entrance of the canon, v^e reached a fine spring of nearly ice-cold water, nestled in a 
pine grove at the mouth of a side-canon, where we halted and took a sumptuous meal, 
all the while feasting our imaginations upou the grandeur and beauty of the scenery. 

The rocky walls of the canon thus far were composed of gray gneiss, alternating 
with occasional beds of black gneiss. The mountain before us presented on its eastern 
face lofty, vertical dikes or layers of black and gray gneiss, with intercalated, seams 
of red granite, thus giving a columnar or striped appearance to the side of the moun- 
tain, by these alternating colors of red, black, and gray, reaching up to its very crest. 
The strike of these vertical beds of gneissoid and granitic rock is nearly east and west, 
similar to that referred to fifteen miles south of this point. 

This locality looks most favorable for gold and silver, and will no doubt repay a 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 29 

thorough search for veins of these minerals. Geology will prove to he a deceptive 
teacher if mines of the precious metals arc not found hereabout. 

Leaving the spring, and ascending a dividing ridge of about 200 feet altitude, we 
followed the trail along the south edge of the high mountain-peak just described, to 
the place for descending deeper into the canon, and along which we proceeded to the 
western base of the mountain, where we camped at a spring in the valley that heads 
up northward in the direction of Laramie Peak, which is about twelve miles distant. 

Here again we find a great development and a large area of the gold and silver 
bearing rocks of black and gray gneiss, in heavy beds, nearly vertical, alternating 
with beds of red granite as we approach the Laramie Peak. The separating line be- 
tween the black and gray gneiss-beds generally furnishes veins of iron-stained or white 
quartz, the latter the most conspicuous on the surface. The strike of this group of 
rocks is northeast and southwest, or nearly so, being similar in this respect and in 
their color and composition to the gold-bearing rocks at the Sweetwater and other gold 
mines. The black gneiss slate is perhaps darker and more hornblendic in appearance 
than the above named, but its line of bearing is the same, the seams of quartz similar, 
and trend in the same direction, and the surface aspect presents an appearance quite 
like that around some of the best mining districts in Colorado, as I am informed by 
those who have seen both. 

The silver mines of Georgetown, Colorado, are found in a similar formation to 
that in this vicinity, and there is also a striking resemblance between these and the 
rocks that inclose silver veins in the West Seminole Mountain. 

Our party could not reach the Laramie Peak from the south, even on horseback, it 
being cut off from the Laramie Plains by a deep and impassable canon of many hundred 
feet in depth. Myself and Professor Richards,, of the technological school at Boston, 
led our horses into it, down a most precipitous point, and rode out along its eastern 
base to the plain which looks toward Fort Laramie. The peak rises 3,000 feet above 
the summit of the pass, between the caTion and plain, and almost 4,000 feet above the 
bottom of the canon. 

Laramie Peak will yet become an attraction for tourists and summer visitors equal 
to Gray's Peak in Colorado. There is far more grandeur and sublimity connected with 
the Laramie Peak and its surroundings than with the peak just named. Its base has 
not so great an altitude, but it rises higher above its base, which, together with the 
wild and imposing scenery of the deep canon that cuts its southern side and carves 
its way eastward to the plains through the entire Laramie Mountain, gives tb the whole 
scene the highest degree of interest and delight. 

Tne boundless view from its summit possesses more beauty and grandeur than any 
other in Wyoming, because it is situated in the gate of mountain ranges to the north 
and south, and overtops them ail. It also commands a view of the whole Laramie 
Plains on the southwest, and the everlasting snow-clad j>eaks of the Medicine Bow 
Mountain beyond, while to the east and northeast the great plains around Fort Lar- 
amie lie before you hundreds of miles beyond the limits of your vision. 

When a milroad shall reach that vicinity, as it will in reasonable time, the summer 
tourist will not hesitate to Adsit it, nor to admit that I have not overrated the scenery. 

The canon last described rises in the northeastern part of the Laramie Plains, and 
becomes the north fork of the Laramie River, after it passes the mountain and enters 
the plain on the east. Its scenery is almost as grand and imposing as that of the one we 
passed through ; but it is hardly possible that wheeled vehicles will ever pass through 
this, the channel being so narrow and the cliffs so abrupt. 

The Laramie Peak is readily accessible with pleasure carriages from Cheyenne, by 
taking the military road toward Fort Fetterman, and at its crossing of the Bitter 
Cottonwood Creek, turning west, going up its valley, there is a smooth ride of twenty 
miles to the peak. 

Dr. Hay den describes this vicinity as follows : " From our camp on the Laramie we 
enjoyed one of the beautiful sunsets which are not uncommon in this western country. 
But this was a rare occasion, for the sun passed down directly behind the summit of 
Laramie Peak. The whole range was gilded with a golden light, and the haziness of 
the atmosj)here gave to the whole scene a deeper beauty. Such a scene as this could 
occur but once in a life-time. 

" From Laramie River to Bitter Cottonwood our road extends over broad, grassy 
plains. Upon our left the mountains are in full view, and the grassy plains seem to 
extend to the granite foot-hills. The scenery in this region is very attractive, as well 
as instructive.' 7 

The peak is composed of gray gneiss almost entirely, as far as I could examine it, 
and silver ore has been found near its northern or northwestern base. 

Next year, if the Indians remain peaceable, mines of silver and gold will, no doubt, 
be opened both in this and the other three localities found on this trip of exploration. 
But the immense bear tracks, freshly made, and the Indian pony tracks found in this 
canon, made us feel that on our next visit there we would at least have guns and 
ammunition in our hands. 



30 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITQRY. 

The Laramie River Canon is, as I am informed, equal for "bold and ragged scenery to 
the other three which I have enumerated, but we had not time to examine it. It cats 
off the mountain rather diagonally, its eastern opening being only five or six miles 
south of the Collins Canon, where we entered it. This canon will afford valuable 
water-power, secure from overflow of banks', by inserting dams in the Laramie River 
near its entrance upon the plain. 

The valley of the Laramie is broad, and affords fine grazing for cattle and sheep all 
its way down to Fort Laramie. 

On the 15th of August we left our camp at Howe's Spring, south of Laramie Peak 
about three miles, and proceeded southwest along the high ridge in that course, and 
entered the Laramie Plains a mile or two southwest of the intersection of the sixth 
standard and ninth guide meridian. Up to this point we were constantly in sight of 
the outcropping edges of the gneissic and granitic rocks, which sx>read out over an 
area of eight or ten miles south and southwest of the peak. 

I should here state that these gueissic rocks, in their line of bearing, trend northeast 
and southwest, and are the result of the same great- lines of upheaval action which 
manifested their power in the region of the Medicine Bow and Elk Mountains, though. 
they exerted less power under the Laramie Plain Basin, and rose again in the region 
of Laramie Peak. While standing on the summit of Elk Mountain, early in Septem- 
ber, I could see the evidence upon the plain below me of the direction this uplifting 
force had taken, in the long lines of fracture of the sedimentary strata off to the 
northeast, toward the Laramie Peak. 

In most of the principal mining districts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, the 
northeast and southwest strike of the precious mineral formation is found to exist, 
though they are sometimes turned out of their course by local outbursts of the igneous 
l>ower. 

Laramie Peak is the focus, apparently, of several radiating lines of upheaval, one 
toward the south, (the Laramie Mountain,) another north, toward Fort Fetterman, 
another southwest, toward Elk Mountain and tlie Medicine Bow, and still another 
toward tin; west, reaching all the distance to the South Pass, at the head of the 
Sweetwater, over a hundred and fifty miles. 

On this line we have what are improperly termed the " Black Hills/' extending west 
from the peak to the deep canon of the Platte; west of this the detatched Seminole 
Mountains, and farther on the several Sweetwater Mountains on the south side of the 
Sweetwater River. Between the peak and the Platte Canon these mountains widen 
out northward toward the great northern curvature of the North Platte, and have 
not been explored by any one, except along their eastern base by Dr. llaydeu on his 
route to Fort Fetterman. 

Judging from their geological appearance at Platte Canon and Laramie Peak, I feel 
confident that the precious minerals will be found within them, at least silver, if not 
gold. 

On August 16th our expedition returned over the Laramie Plains to the railroad, and 
on the l?th reached Cheyenne, having been absent twelve days, and finding only two 
ranche cabins on our whole route, up to the last day, when we returned to tin; rail- 
road. Butthe country we passed through would sustain hundreds of thousands of sheep 
and cattle, only needing the, expense of a i'cw herdsmen and a small outlay for ranche 
buildings to insure large incomes from this source to hundreds of families. 

SWEETWATER GOLD MINES. 

My fifth journey was commenced August 23, for the examination of the gold mines 
of tiio South Pass or Sweetwater district. 1 left the railroad at Bryan, on the 24th, 
in company with our delegate, Hon. William T. Jones, in one of the line coaches of the 
tri-weekly stage line of Messrs. Huntley & Co. 

The distance is one hundred miles, in a northerly direction. We crossed the Green 
River to the east side, at Smith's ranche, eighteen miles north of Bryan, where we in- 
tersected the old overland emigrant road on its Fort Bridger and Echo Canon route. 
The stages follow this road to Pacific Springs, (within the old ''South Pass,") on the 
dividing ridge of the continent. From Green River to Edward Mann's ranche on the 
Big Sandy is thirty-two miles. This is the half-way house, and affords very com- 
fortable quarters. 

Thence to Little Sandy is eight miles, to Dry Sandy sixteen miles, to Pacific Springs 
fourteen miles, to Sweetwater River four miles, and to South Pass City eight miles, 
making fifty miles from E. Mann's ranche to South Pass City. Mann's ranche at Big- 
Sandy, and Henry Smith's ranche at Green River, are the only two houses or ranches on 
this one hundred miles of stage line, except a hay ranche at Pacific Springs occupied 
only by men. The two first named furnish meals and very comfortable accommodations 
for travelers, both landlords being New York men, I believe. 

Eleven or twelve miles before we reached Mann's ranche we crossed "Simpson's 
Hollow," where, we were informed by the driver, a train of emigrants under charge of 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 31 

Captain Simpson moving- to Oregon, in 1857, were attacked by the Mormons, and the 
whole party murdered, except a few children. This was at the Mine of the Mormon 
war, when all parties on the road, moving west, were looked upon with suspicion. The 
wagons were burned and the irons gathered up and cached in a large pit dug for the 
purpose, which can still be seen at the side of the road. 

A year ago last summer the stage teams were stolen from Mann's ranche by the Indians. 
But this summer, owing probably to the new policy of feeding the Indians, we could 
travel to Sweetwater without molestation, or any protection except from the fire-arms . 
of the passengers. y 

We saw very little game. None of those droves of elk, antelope, and Mack-tailed 
deer, such as we noticed on the trips to Seminole Mountains and Laramie Peak, were 
to be seen on this road. A few antelope appeared near the creek bottoms, where there 
is grass, but the plains of the Green River Basin produce very little but sage brush, 
which is the reason of so little game. 

South Pass, through whicli the stage runs, is about ten miles wide, extending from 
the Steamboat Buttes, near Pacific Springs, and the southeastern terminating point of 
the Wind River range, whicli is improperly called Sweetwater Mountains by the in- 
habitants. These mountains lie northwest of the pass, which is merely a gently undu- 
lating, elevated plain, so gradual in elevation, and so like hundreds of similar ridges 
which we find upon the plains, that you cannot realize you are passing over, in the dis- 
tance of two or three miles, the continental crest between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. By the road it is only three miles between the running waters that flow to 
the two oceans. The altitude of the pass is 8,000 feet. 

On the morning of leaving Mann's ranche, the snowy peaks of the Wind River 
Mountains, sixty to seventy-five miles north, were soon visible through the transparent 
atmosphere of these high 'altitudes. In the morning sun they seemed only a short way 
off, and loomed up along the horizon, with a sharp, clear outline that rendered the view 
most grand and imposing. Fremont's Peak and. the snowy peaks east of it were 
clearly defined, though so far away. 

After passing Pacific Springs the granites and gneisses soon make their appearance. 
Close to the crossing of the Sweetwater the black gneisses begin to outcrop with in- 
tercalated, beds of granites, as found about Georgetown, Colorado. The granite beds 
disappear soon after passing the Sweetwater River, and as you approach South Pass 
City the dark gneissic slates are the only formation. 

These slates lie up against the eastern face of the Wind River Mountains, beginning 
at their southern point at the Sw T eetwater, and sweep around the northwestern curve 
in the mountain, in a northeasterly direction, twenty to thirty miles. The area of 
these gneissoid or " metamorphic slates" is about ten miles wide and twenty or thirty 
miles long, which is about as large as the mining district of Freiburg, Germany, so 
renowned over the civilized world for its great school of mines and the skillful manner 
in which they work their metallic veins and separate their ores. 

As you enter the cluster of mines at South Pass City you at once find yourself sur- 
rounded on all sid.es by metamorphous, hornblende rock, and gneiss slates of a brown- 
black color, but not so black and sparkling as the gneissic slates south and east of 
Laramie Peak and on the west side of Sabylle Creek. 

The " country rock " which incloses the gold mines of this mineral belt from this 
point northeast to the Miner's Delight mine, a distance of eight to ten miles, is entirely 
metamorphous and azoic, and not intercalated w r ith beds of granites, as seen eight 
miles south, where the gneisses alternate with them. 

The geology of the mineral-bearing rocks is very uniform in this district. The strata 
are folded and. tilted considerably, much as they are in the eastern Seminole Mountain, 
and, like the latter, vary considerably in strike and dip. The rock is quite hard, and 
has therefore resisted the decomposing influence of the atmosphere and the tremendous 
glacial currents which, in ancient days, swept across here, leaving the rocks clear of 
debris ; which is a fortunate circumstance for the pioneer miner, who is thus saved 
much time and money in prospecting for the gold veins. 

Much of the surface is so bare, and the large outcroppings of quartz so plainly visi- 
ble, sometimes for miles in about the same direction, as to have ^rendered successful 
prospecting a matter of small outlay to the miner. Very close to, and parallel with, 
the heavy quartz vein upon which are located the Cariso, Young America, Wild Irish- 
man, and other valuable mine shafts, I noticed a heavy outcropping bed or stratum of 
gray talcose slate, which experienced miners ought to have clung to in their first pros- 
peeling attempts with even more tenacity than to the veins of quartz in the dark gneiss 
rocks. This bed of gray talc slate is very hard, and less easily broken than the gneiss. 

An English mining company has bought the Wild Irishman mine, which is supposed 
to be an extension, of the Cariso lode, and are now running in a tunnel (adit level) 
from the foot of the hill in Hermit Gulch, to intersect this lode at a depth of 200 or 
300 feet below the crest of the hill. 

Mr. Henry Rickard, their agent, and a practical English miner, has shown excellent 
judgment in adopting this plan of proving the mine. He expects to build his quartz- 



32 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

mill in this gulch, and can run out the ore upon a tramway in this tunnel, and also use 
it as an adit level for drainage when it shall he necessary to use pumps. The tunnel 
will also cut all lodes in its passage to the center of the hill, under the shaft, now 80 
feet deep. 

When I examined the head of the tunnel, then excavated over a hundred feet and 
not far from the talc stratum ahove alluded to, the changed aud pyritous character of 
the rock indicated a rich vein very close at hand. I am quite confident it will do 
more to prove the value of the veins in that vicinity than all the shafts that have heen 
sunk ; and I sincerely congratulate the mine owners in that district upon the fortunate 
event of having English capital and sound mining experience enlisted in the proper 
development of some of the mines in that locality. 

The material spoken of at the head of the tunnel --appeared to he the same as found 
at the Cariso mine shaft, where one or two hundred tons of it had heen thrown over 
the dump piles as refuse rock, hut which, upon analysis in London, was found to con- 
tain $70 in gold per ton. I will introduce this analysis in referring to that mine. 
Tiiis rock differs in grain and color from the wall rock of the vein, and is no doubt 
part of the "vein-stone" of the lode — the mineral portion being about 50 per cent, 
iron. 

The lodes of the district differ considerably in their strike (course) and dip. The 
Cariso bears north 60° east, while the Young America, only three or four hundred yards 
southwest, and supposed to be on the same vein, bears north 80° east. The Buckeye 
State, a mile or more north of Atlantic City, bears north 40° east, and the Miners' De- 
light, at Hamilton, four miles farther to the northeast, bears the same, north 40° east. 
The strike of the nearly vertical strata is generally about northeast aud southwest, 
aud the inclosed lodes or veins ought to run in the same direction if these strata were 
sedimentary anterior to their metamorphism, and the mineral material was deposited 
between those beds or strata before that great change occurred. 

But, as in California and other gold districts, the lodes do not always follow the line 
of cleavage or the strike of the strata. It is quite evident, therefore, that all these 
productions of the eruptive forces were injected into the rocky strata either at the 
time of, or subsequent to, the elevation of the metamorphic nucleus. They could not 
otherwise properly be considered true fissure veins, tilled from the " vasty deep " of the 
igneous center, which experienced miners so like to contemplate. 

It is natural to suppose that in the filling of veins with mineral matter the lines of 
greatest weakness would be followed by the material, pressed onward or upward by 
the igneous forces which set it iu motion. This is the case with the true fissure veins 
in the granites, and why not so with the gold and silver veins in the metamorphosed 
gneisses! 

My examination of this district very much strengthened my confidence in the perma- 
nency and future productiveness of its gold lodes, for I had previously understood that 
their course was entirely confined to the general strike of the slaty strata, and found 
in the direct hue of their cleavage; and though in one sense " contact veins," they 
had not the virtue or strength of such veins, which occupy the plane of divisiou be- 
tween rocks of different age and character, and are generally rich, though not always 
permanent in depth and length. 

It was this variation in the strike and dip of these lodes, as compared with the strike 
and dip of their inclosing strata, that enlarged my confidence in their permanent 
value. I expressed this confidence to the citizens and mine owners, and predicted 
that the doubts of some of the owners would in reasonable time be dispelled by just 
such an improvement in the mines as had been witnessed in Colorado by the introduc- 
tion of capital, economy, perseverance, aud skillful mining. 

The dip of the lodes varies from 50° to 90°, and is mostly to the northwest, which is 
another evidence of their true fissure character, the dip of the mineral matter being 
toward the granitic nucleus. They vary in width from one to twenty feet. The 
gold-bearing quartz of the vein is impregnated with oxide and silicate of iron. Some 
of the gold quartz, however, is of a leaden colored whits, of greasy appearance, and 
fine grain, like that of the Miner's Delight mine. The dark quartz is the most com- 
mon, and the selvages of the lodes frequently show a red-stained, decomposed quartz, 
Avhich can be readily crushed with the thumb and finger, and is generally richer in 
free gold than the compact quartz. 

The gold is of good quality, but not very fine. It averages 850 fine gold. The base 
metals are quite rare, but no doubt they will appear at greater depth,, when the vein 
will be likely to increase in richness, though more expensive to treat. The yield is 
from $20 to $40 per ton. The richest lodes are only from one to three feet wide. The 
ore from these has sometimes yielded $100 per ton. 

Hundreds of lodes have been discovered, but many will, perhaps, not pay to work. 
Numerous mills have been erected, but some have been burned, aud one was removed 
to Utah this fall, belonging to men who had been sold in purchasing a non-metallifer- 
ous veiu of quartz, though the largest, perhaps, of any in the district. 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY.. 33 

But more mills will have to be erected as soon as mining capital and more experi- 
enced miners are induced to take hold of these mines in earnest. 

South Pass City is the first of the mining towns reached on the stage route. It is 
located in the narrow valley of Willow Creek, between bluffs of hornblende or gneissoid 
rock. Looking west and northwest about thirty miles distant, the main range of the 
Rocky Mountains raises its crest, with snow-covered peaks, high above the surround- 
ing prairies and foot-hills. 

The Sweetwater River heads on the southwestern side of this range in a beautiful 
lake about forty miles northwest of South Pass, and hence the name of Sweetwater 
Mountains is given to the southeastern extremity of the Wind River Range, which is 
quite improper, as there is no break in the Wind River Mountain until it reaches the 
Sweetwater. 

In this vicinity, where both the Sweetwater and Big Sandy head, there are large 
tracts of land quite well adapted to agriculture and grazing, and it is here the over- 
land road called " Lander's Cut-off " is situated. A little above this, on the Green 
River side of the mountain, gold has been found, and gold and silver mines will be 
found along that slope all the way to the head of Green River as soon as danger from 
Indians shall cease, which now prevents the miner from exploring and prospecting 
that part of the country. 

One of the best lodes or mineral belts in the South Pass district commences within a 
few hundred yards of South Pass City, and bears off to the northeast. I will mention 
some of the principal mines upon it. 

The Young America mine is the first one of note, only 300 or 400 yards north of the 
village, and is situated west of the Cariso Gulch, which was found so rich in placer 
gold. It is owned by an Ohio company, A. G. Sneath, superintendent. There are two 
shafts about 80 feet deep, where the vein is about 2 feet wide. The strike of the vein 
is north 86° east, the lode perpendicular. The ore is said to be worth $40 to $45 per 
ton of quartz, which is a whitish blue, and carries free gold. This company had a fine 
mill of 10 stamps and a 20-horse power, which I saw in ruins from fire, in Hermit 
Gulch, half a mile distant. There is an engine, and good building over the shaft, for 
hoisting and pumping. 

The Cariso lode is situated upon the hill, east of the Cariso Gulch, about half a mile 
from South Pass City and quarter of a mile from the mine just described. Some sup- 
pose it to be on the same lode as the Young America, but its strike is 26° less, being- 
north 60° east. It was the first discovered lode in the district, by H. S. Reedall, in 
1867. The party was soon attacked by Indians, and three killed. In the winter fol- 
lowing the mining was resumed, and from the croppings of the lode, which they 
crushed in a hand-mortar, $1,600 in free gold was obtained, and they washed out $7,000 
more from the debris in the gulch below the vein. The main shaft is about 210* feet 
deep, and worked by an engine. Their stamp-mill is on Willow Creek, and run by 
water power. 

The owner, Mr. Thomas Roberts, has worked the mine with considerable skill and 
industry, and has made it pay its way, even to the building of a stamp-mill aud engine- 
house, and placing an engine in it. He visited London this summer, by the invitation 
of some mine capitalists, who have purchased two-thirds interest, I am informed, for 
8100,000, and it will now be worked with that energy and skill which will probably 
result in greatly enhancing the reputation of this important mining district. 

The vein stone, which had been thrown away, and which was found to contain $70 
per ton in gold, will now be made to impart its treasure. It holds about $15 per ton of 
tree gold in mechanical combination, and the remaining $55 per ton is probably in the 
state of sulphuret or other chemical condition, and will have to be extracted by other 
methods. 

The length of the lode is understood to be 3,000 feet, with the discovery shaft near 
the center : but some of this distance is yet owned by individual parties, in 200 feet 
claims, and thus there are other shafts than the one the engine is on. Several levels 
have been run out from the shaft. The dip of the lode is 75° southeast. The average 
width of ore streak is 3 feet, between well-defined walls of hornblendic gneiss. The 
yield of the mine per month is about $5,000 or $6,000, the capacity of the water stamp- 
mill allowing only about this much. The following analysis of the blue sulphuret of 
iron, as analyzed by Messrs. Johnson & Son, London, was furnished me by Judge Steck, 
of the firm of J. W T . Iliff & Co., bankers at South Pass. Iron 50.52, copper 0.20, sul- 
X>hur 33.90, gold 11.77, silver 1.56, lime 0.75, carbonic 0.45, silica 0.85, equal to 3 ounces 
and 18 pennyweights of fine gold to 2,000 pounds of rock, of which blue rock millions 
of tons can be easily and cheaply obtained. 

The Wild Irishman is supposed to be on an extension of the Cariso lode, upon the 
crest of the same ridge, several hundred feet northeast. The main shaft is 78 feet 
deep. The vein is about the same width, and the quartz yields nearly the same per 
ton as the Cariso. It is owned by the London company before referred to, 1,000 feet 
on lode; and I am just now informed, while writing, that this is the conqiany that pur- 
chased two-thirds of the Cariso mine from Mr. Roberts, and will now work both of 

3 S R 



34 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

these lodes with all the necessary energy and capital. The results will be watched 
with great interest by all the other mine owners of that region. 

Mr. Rickard, the superintendent and part owner of both mines, I am informed will 
enlarge his operations upon the most approved scale of mining, and will doubtless 
erect a steam stamp-mill in Hermit Gulch, near the mouth of the tunnel he is running 
to the Wild Irishman shaft, as the water-mill of the Cariso will not be able to crush 
half the mineral rock of both mines. They also own the Duncan lode, near by. 

The Buckeye Boy is 300 or 400 yards east of the Wild Irishman, at point of hill on 
Hermit Gulch. A shaft is sunk, and some drifting done, the material from which indi- 
cates a fine vein when fully prospected, as it appeared to be in close proximity to the 
stratum of gray talcose slate before mentioned. Two industrious miners were the 
owners, and were at work upon it. 

The Carrie Shields lode, situated three-fourths of a mile east of South Pass City, on 
the north side of Willow Creek, is owned by W. C. Ervin, of South Pass City, to the 
extent of 1,000 feet on the vein. The strike is northeast, shaft 90 feet, width of veiu 
2 to 6 feet. The ore yields from $15 to .$37 per ton by ordinary stamp process. 

I descended into the shaft and found the vein well defined, a good quality of quartz, 
and I procured some of the decomposed selvage of the vein, which I found quite rich 
in gold, as shown by washing. I also saw free gold in the quartz, and have no doubt 
it is a valuable miue. A short tunnel run in from the gulch would intersect the vein 
about 300 feet below the surface at shaft. The owner is not working the mine this 
season, and offers it to capitalists for $10,000. 

There are numerous other discoveries of gold veins in the vicinity of South Pass 
City, with shafts ranging from 20 to 50 feet deep; but as no work is being done on them 
now, not much could be learned of their yield per ton. These are the Robert Emmett, 
Nellie Morgan, Golden Gate, Garden City, General Grant, Austin City, &c. Messrs. 
Thompson & Kimbrough have a prospect named the Tennessee, which, judging from 
the specimens shown me, promises well. 

The Mary Ellen lode has yielded some very rich ore in the croppings, dip 45° north. 
The hanging wall consists of slates, the foot wall of sienite. Some of the ore is re- 
ported to have yielded as high as $104 per ton, owing, no doubt, to its contact with 
the sienite. 

The Barnaba, owned by Foster & Co., shows a fair yield of ore, vein 4 to 6 feet wide. 
It is not worked this season. 

Atlantic City, four miles northeast of South Pass City, is situated on Rock Creek, 
in the midst of valuable mines, and, like South Pass City, has not the population that 
its advantages and capacity warrant. The gulch diggings in its vicinity yield largely 
in gold, but the scarcity of Avater interferes greatly with their proper success. In the 
bed of Rock Creek, beiow the village, as high as $100 in gold per day, for each good 
hand, has been obtained. Upon the north fork of Smith's Gulch, not far from the vil- 
lage, new placer diggings were found this season, which they named Promise Gulch. 
I found thirty or forty miners at work in them, and they averaged an ounce a day ($18) 
to each man, with only the water of a small spring, which they used over time and 
again. Water has since been brought by race several miles, and they now predict that 
they will obtain $75,000 next season from this gulch. 

Wolf Tone lode is situated a short distauce above the town, the vein crossing under 
Rock Creek Branch. It was discovered by the gulch miners working in this creek for 
placer gold clown to the bed rock, and who there found the vein, which is 2 feet 
wide, the quartz yielding $40 per ton. Messrs. John Folger, Hughes, andBrennau own 
1,500 feet on the vein, which crosses the creek, and is expected to become a valuable 
mine. 

The Buckeye State mine is situated on the ridge northwest of the village, one-half 
to three-quarters of a mile distant, and is owned by Dr. F. H. Harrison, Edward Lawn, 
John McCollnm, James Forrest, John McTurk, and others, to the extent of 3,000 feet on 
the lode. It is a good paying mine, and worked with skill and economy, but not to 
the extent it might be with a larger mill accommodation. Most of the owners work in 
it themselves, and twenty to twenty-five men were employed at $1 each per day at the 
time of my visit to it. The main ore pump-shaft is 140 feet deep, and vertical, but cuts 
the lode at 80 feet in depth. There are only 90 feet of drifts on the lode, 50 feet west 
and 40 feet east. The width of vein is 2£ to 7 feet, averaging about 4 feet ; the strike 
of the lode north 40° east, dip 60° northwest. They have an engine of 20-horse power, 
and 10- stamp mill. The quartz yields $30 x>er ton. The product, as now worked, is 
from $50,000 to $60,000 per annum. 

The Soles and Perkins lode, owned by Messrs. Perkins. Menifee, Ralston, Taylor, and 
Logan, has the reputation of being a very good mine, but work is no ,v suspended until 
an engine and pump can be procured. The shaft is 95 feet, on dip of vein ; strike of 
vein east ; vein 3 to 4 feet wide. It requires capital to furnish engine for mine and 
stamp-mill. 

The Oriental lode is on the south side of Rock Creek, nearly a mile west of Atlantic 
City, and owned by Major Horace Holt and Messrs. George B.Thompson, L. Steele,' 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 35 

and Peter Haas to the extent of 1,000 feet on vein. The shaft is only 65 feet deep, in 
which I found the quartz, as well as the selvage matter of the vein, quite rich in free 
gold. These men work the mine wholly themselves, and they have run in at the hase 
of the hill a tine adit level, 400 feet, toward the vein, which they will intersect at a 
considerable depth below the shaft. This will doubtless make a valuable mine when 
fully opened, and the owners deserve great praise for the industry aud perseverance 
they have already shown in developing it. Eleven tons of their quartz, lately crushed, 
yielded $22 per ton. They found other veins 3 to 4 feet wide along their tunnel, with 
similar pyritous gangue rock to that found in the Cariso, which is an excellent indica- 
tion for the increase of the gold product. They also own a share with Messrs. Jones & 
Walker in the next 1,000 feet on the southwest extension. 

The Cariboo lode is situated on Rock Creek, above the Oriental, and is owned by 
Bliss & Co., of California, to the extent of 1,500 feet on the west end, and Cutler & 
Co., 1,100 feet on east end. The ledge is 3 feet wide, shaft 75 feet deep ; rock yields 
$15 to §20 per ton. They have a 10-stamp water-mill, but are not working this season. 
The dip of the vein is 60°, and 50 tons of the ore are reported to have yielded $5,000. 

The Eldorado mine, formerly owned by Dr. Barr, and now by Mr. Amoritty, of Atlan- 
tic, is reported to be a valuable lode ; the vein is only 1 or 2 feet wide, but the ore 
quite rich. The shaft is 120.feet deep. This mine is not worked this season. 

The Miner's Delight lode, (West End,) the richest, perhaps, of all the lodes in this 
mining district, is situated within the Shoshone reservation, near Hamilton Village, 
four miles northeast of Atlantic, in Spring Gulch, on the north side of the dividing- 
ridge between the Sweetwater and the valley of the Big Horn. The West End, 800 
feet, is owned by Messrs. Lightburn, Hoibrook, and others. There is a new 60-horse 
power engine upon it, sufficient to pump and hoist, and another of 20 horse-power to 
run a 10-stamp mill which adjoins the engine-house. There are three shafts. The 
engine shaft, with three apartments, is vertical, aud 150 feet deep. The next is 115 
feet, and inclines with the dip of the lode, about 60° to 70° southeast. The third 
shaft (whim shaft) is 85 feet deep. The strike of the gneissic strata is north 40° east. 
Several drifts have been run on the vein, which averages 3^ feet wide, and carries ex- 
cellent ore from wall to wall. About 14 inches of it consists of white, transparent 
quartz, of tine grain, (sometimes of milky and leaden hue,) showing free gold most of 
the time. The remainder of the lode consists of a selvage of decomposed quartz, next 
to the wall rock, of dark, rusty color, and very rich in gold. The width of the ore 
streak in the southwest part of the vein varies from 6 inches to 5 feet. The ore, I 
learn, yields about $40 to the ton on an average. 

The Miner's Delight, (East End,) is owned by parties in Tiffin, Ohio, to the extent ot 
8G0 feet. I found Mr. Robert H. Morrison, the manager, putting the shafts and levels 
in true mining order, timbering the shafts and drifts in the best and most approved 
manner, which, on such a lode, is always the best economy. The whim shaft is 85 feet 
deep, and two levels (of 30 and 40 feet) are run each way from the shaft, showing same 
quality of ore and width of vein as the West End lode. The walls of the lode are very 
smooth and well defined, as first-class true veins usually are. The lode bends north at 
its eastern end, an unusual circumstance. 

The Hartley lode, owned by the Messrs. Hartley to the extent of 800 feet, is probably 
on the same vein as the Miner's Delight, which it adjoins on the southwest. The shaft 
is 100 feet deej), the vein I| foot wide, and drifted 100 feet, and the quartz rock is very 
rich. But the mine is flooded with water when the Miner's Delight pump does not 
keep it down, as had been the case the past summer, Avhile the new engine of the Miner's 
Delight was being set up. 

The Peabody lode is southwest of the Hartley, and on the same vein ; and is owned 
by Manhelm, Quinn, Frank, Young, Smith, and others, to the extent of 3,000 feet. One 
inclined shaft is 120 feet deep, the hade or clip being about 45°, and the vein 3 to 4 
feet wide. The ore is not as rich as the Hartley, but fair ; yields $15 per ton. It is on 
the hill, and will probably irnrjrove much at the same level as the three mines north- 
east of it on same lode. 

Stamp-mills. — Twelve stamp-mills have been erected, I am informed, in this district, 
carrying about 160 stamps, which was double the number required for the small work- 
ing force and production of the mines. One or two valuable ones were burned, and 
two were erected on worthless, huge quartz veins, by dupes of skillful swindlers ; and 
one of these is now being taken to the Utah mines. 

Gulch-mining. — Gold has been found in nearly every gulch in this district, and some 
have proved almost as rich as the famous Dutch Flat diggings iu California, though 
of far less extent, the ravines being narrow. But their large yield is the best evidence 
of the number of rich lodes in this district ; for placer gold is the product of the veins 
above them, whose surfaces have been worn down by time and the gold carried with 
the debris to the gulches and valleys below. 

There are six or seven of these rich gulches, which are worked only a small portion 
of the year, for want of sufficient water : to wit, the Cariso, and Rock Creek, above 
and below Atlantic, and the Yankee, Meadow, Smith's Promise, and Spring gulches. 



36 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

The Spring gulch is just below Miner's Delight, and is the debris of that rich lode. I 
found thirty to forty men working on it, with only the water pumped from the Miner's 
Delight engine shaft. The largest nugget taken from it weighed six ounces. I saw 
many of an ounce or two in weight, and also saw a lump of gold quartz, taken from 
the gravel, as large as a water bucket, which looked as if it contained a pound or two 
of gold. 

Promise Gulch was discovered this summer, and is a branch of Smith's. It heads up 
north against the southwest extension of the Miner's Delight lode, on the dividing 
ridge. It is on the road between Miner's Delight aad Atlantic, and I have already 
made mention of it. 

Amount of bullion extracted. — I found it impossible to obtain anything like correct 
statistics on this point. During the year ending July 1, 1869, the estimate' was $155,000 
in coin. The product has probably been that much for each of the last two years, 
and perhaps considerably more, as that is about what is taken from only three of the 
best mines. This looks like a small amount for so many lodes that yield so well ; but 
it must be borne in mind that it is very little over a year since Indians murdered some 
of the best young men and miners, within the very center of this eight miles of mines,, 
and killed several other citizens in the valley, not far north of the mines. Miners 
cannot work and at the same time watch and fight Indians. 

This state of affairs has prevented immigration to those mines, and large numbers 
have been induced to leave and go to the Utah mines within the last eighteen months, 
where the prospector can pursue his arduous calling, free from the constant apprehen- 
sion that while he is stooping over his work the arrow of an ambushed savage may 
pierce his heart. 

I fully concur with Raymond, where, in speaking of this mining district, he says: 
"'It speaks well for the value of the mineral resources of this district that a small 
number of poor miners should have brought this gold to light in an unexplored desert, 
remote from the civilized world, and practically inaccessible. The results show their 
nerve, and persevering industry and energy, unassisted by capital, while suffering 
from want of supplies, and facing the most terrible Indian atrocities, in the achieve- 
ment of personal gain and the reclamation of so remote a mining country to the pur- 
poses of public wealth and general civilization." 

Fuel for mining purposes. — The question of fuel will become a serious one at no dis- 
tant period, when capital and experienced labor shall be brought to the energetic de- 
velopment of these mines. Most of the timber for the mines, and lumber for buildings, 
can be obtained twenty to thirty miles west, in the Wind River Mountains, where 
there are saw-mills at this time ; but fuel for the engines and furnaces, and for domestic 
purposes, cannot be brought so far except at too great expense. 

Coal must therefore be found, and it is possible, and even probable, from what I can 
hear, that it may be found not far north of the mines — in the " valley," as it is termed. 
We hope to be able next season to make personal examination as to whether coal exists 
there. 

If it cannot be found, then the next step necessary will be to enlist capital for the 
purpose of securing the construction of a narrow-gauge railroad from Fort Steele, or 
Rawlins, via Seminole Gap, and thence up the Sweetwater to the gold mines. This 
would supply coal from the coal-fields at Carbon, or north of Fort Steele, or from val- 
uable veins that exist not far south of Rawlins. It would also give access to the gold 
and silver mines of the Seminole Mountains, close to this line of road, which in a short 
time will exhibit sufficient wealth in mineral products, and so attract public attention 
and confidence as to command the building of a railroad thus far toward the Sweet- 
water mines. The whole line would require but very little more grading than for a 
railroad over an Illinois prairie. 

Grain and vegetables for the mine*. — Nothing but a few garden vegetables can be 
raised at these mines, for the reason that the altitude is 8,000 feet. But north, 
in the valley of the Popo-agie, not far from the Shoshone agency, everything 
needed can be raised, the descent north being rapid, the soil good, and the surround- 
ing mountains affording grateful shelter. I never saw finer wheat than was grown in 
that valley this summer. One party raised 2,500 bushels. I also saw oats, grown 
there, of equal quality to the wheat, and there is no question but that these mines 
could be fully supplied from that valley with all agricultural products that would be 
required. But that valley is in the Shoshone reservation, and Indians generally do 
not like to be crowded upon. Washakie, however, the chief of this tribe, is an intelli- 
gent, shrewd, and good-natured Indian, and I learn that his good sense teaches him 
that his tribe do not need and cannot use one-half the reservation that Congress has 
given them there ; and inasmuch as the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, are his 
natural enemies, and constantly watch to give him battle, he is willing to have a body 
of white settlers on part of the reservation, to help him fight his enemies when they 
attack him. He and his chief men are, therefore, willing to give up the Popo-agie Val- 
ley, next to the mines, to the settlement of whites, and retain only the Wind River 
Yalley as sufficient for them. It is, therefore, hoped that the Department will examine 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OP WYOMING TERRITORY. 37 

into this question and do what it can toward fostering the interests of the new gold 
region of Sweetwater. 

ELK MOUNTAIN. 

On my return trip from Sweetwater I was enabled, through the courtesy of General 
Morrow, at Fort Steele, to visit and examine Elk Mountain, which is situated a little 
south of east from Fort Steele, about thirty miles distant, and from eight to ten miles 
south of the railroad at Percy statiou. 

Captain Bonney and Surgeon Wilson of the post accompanied me. We camped at 
the northern base of the mountain, two miles southwest of old Fort Halleck. Next 
day, September 4, I began the ascent of the mountain from the north end, on horse- 
back, and with considerable difficulty traced its crest to the highest summit, over 
10,000 feet in altitude. 

It is almost an isolated mountain, but in reality is the northern extension of the 
Medicine Bow range, and is quite similar in geological characteristics. Its chief axis 
of upheaval is along^ its western base, its 3,000 feet of eastern face being almost ver- 
tical, and broken off in part of its length from its adjoining formations below, while its 
western side slopes west at an angle of about 45°, and is covered nearly to its north and 
south crest with the silurian sand and lime rocks. Over half v way up this western 
slope these last are overlaid with the lower triassic sandstone. Its crest and eastern 
face are bare of unchanged rocks, except around its northeastern curve, where the 
silurian lime and sandstones are found lying up against it almost vertical, and uncon- 
cealed by any newer strata. 

The metamorphic and azoic nucleus of the mountain, southward to its highest crest, 
is almost exactly similar to that portion of the Laramie range south from Laramie 
Peak to Collins's Canon, before described. There is the same folding and strike of 
strata, and the same alternation of dike-like vertical beds of black and gray gneiss 
and red granite — the feldspar predominating over the mica and quartz. The exposed 
edges of these folded rocks on the eastern face of the mountain afford a fine display of 
anticlinals and synclinals, the same as seen in the western Seminole Mountain, where 
such rich silver veins have been discovered since I visited it in July last, and also seen 
on the eastern face of Reed's Peak, (the twin of Laramie Peak,) before described, 
where it is likewise confidently expected that silver and gold will be found as soon as 
fairly prospected. The geological characteristics and general aspect of the eastern face 
of Elk Mountain also resemble, as I am informed, the formations at Georgetown, Colo- 
rado. Dr. Hayden, in his report on Colorado, says : " The gold and silver lodes of this 
Territory, so far as they are observed, are entirely composed of the gneissic and gran- 
ite rocks. At any rate, all the rocks about Central City are most distinctly gneissic, 
while those containing silver at Georgetown are both gneissic and granitic. The moun- 
tain in which the Baker, Brown, Corin, Terrible, and some other rich lodes are located, 
is composed mostly of gneissic and reddish feldspathic granite, while the Leavenworth 
and McClellan Mountains, equally rich in silver, are composed of banded gneiss, with 
the lines of bedding or stratification very distinct." He adds, "There is also a wond- 
erful parallelism of the lodes of Colorado, the most of them taking one general direc- 
tion or strike northeast and southwest." 

I found these peculiarities about the same at the Sweetwater gold mines, (some of 
which, I have no doubt, will change to silver mines at greater depths,) and also in the 
Seminole mines, as far as manifested in the slight operations which had been performed 
there. And the same will appear in the region of Laramie Peak, and at the Elk and 
Medicine Bow Mountains, when tested. The strike of the outcropping edges of these 
folded azoic rocks is, in all the localities above named, nearly northeast and south- 
west, as in Colorado. 

Some "colors" of gold have been panned from the beds of the eastern spring- 
branches of Elk Mountain, and doubtless a proper search will disclose gold in good 
quantities there; though the geological character and arrangement of the rocks seems 
to indicate that silver will most predominate, judging from comparison with similar 
formations where rich silver lodes have been found. 

Elk Mountain appears to have been, like Laramie Peak, the focus of deep-seated, 
radiating lines of upheaval, but which did not, as there, force the azoic rocks to the 
surface beyond its present base, but near enough to fracture and fold and turn up at 
different angles of dip the unchanged stratified rocks. 

Looking to the northeast, toward Laramie Peak, you can see a plainly -marked anti- 
clinal groove trending off in that direction, and formed by the fracture and uplift of 
the strata dipping either Avay. This has much distorted the coal strata south of the 
Carbon coal-mines, so as to very materially lessen the value of that locality. 

Another line is found reaching northward, creating the divide between Carbon and 
Percy, and thus detaching the coal-field of the Rock Creek and Medicine Bow River 
Valleys from that portion which I believe will be found of considerable value, in a 
northwesterly direction between Carbon and the Platte River. 

Another radiating line of upheaval trends west, or a little south of west, tilting up 



38 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

all that vast exposure or thickness of cretaceous strata, through the mouoclinal valleys 
of which the railroad runs from Percy to Fort Steele, twenty-seven miles. 

I refer to these facts to show why Elk Mountain, uplifted to an altitude of 10,000 feet, 
should have a right to claim equality, in a mineral point of view, with Colorado 
mountains of same altitude and geological character, and that its similarity and other 
relations to its neighbor mountains (though not close neighbors) should entitle it to 
consideration as a connecting link between distant mountain chains, and as aiding in 
the explanation of surrounding mineral centers, the strike of mineral veins, and the 
direction of the igneous forces that wrought such harmony in all their characteristics. 

I contemplated the examination of the Medicine Bow Mountain, south of Elk Moun- 
tain, this fall, but could not. Gold has been mined the last two seasons in. the southern 
end of that mountain, from the gulch at the head of Douglass Creek, and also in the head 
gulches of Rock Creek. I have great confidence that this mountain will yet be found 
to yield largely of the precious metals, and from its accessibility to the railroad it will, 
in that event, form an attractive mining center, and add largely to the resources and 
wealth of Wyoming. 

I returned to Fort Steele on the evening of the 4th of September, and on the 5th 
returned to Cheyenne, after arranging to examine the Medicine Bow Mountain at an 
early day, in company with General Morrow ; but, on receiving your telegram of Sep- 
tember 6, requesting me to proceed to California on business for the Department, I 
abandoned all further expeditions to the mountains this season. 

WYOMING RAILROADS. 

The Union Pacific Railroad has four hundred and eighty-live miles of track within 
the Territory of Wyoming. During the past year the road, has fully sustained its well- 
earned reputation, for the courtesy, and careful attention to business and to the com- 
fort and safety of passengers, shown by its large corps of officials of every grade. No 
accident worthy of notice has occurred upon its one thousand and thirty-two miles of 
line this year, and during that time its freights and travel seem to have almost doubled, 
judging only from appearances, as compared with those of last. year. This is partly 
owing to the absence of an Indian panie — the Indians of Wyoming having been quiet 
this year — and partly to the natural increase of China trade, and the great increase of 
silver ores and bullion produced in Utah and Nevada within the past eight or ten 
months. 

The amount of foreign goods moving from San Francisco eastward, this season, has 
very largely increased. We have noticed trains of 30 cars, all laden with the products 
of California and the East Indies, such as wool, tea, Java coffee, &c, &c. I am informed 
by one of the division superintendents that there were as many as 200 car loads of teas 
upon the Union Pacific Railroad at one time, moving eastward, part for the American 
market, and a large portion for European ports ; for it has been proven that teas from 
China can be laid down in Liverpool over this continental road about thirty days 
earlier than they can by the Red Sea and Suez Canal route. Within a very few years 
these continental roads will be among the best-paying lines in the country. 

The earnings of the Union Pacific Railroad for the month of September, 1871, are 
reported to be $800,401 94; expenses for the same time, $298,022 24; profits for this 
month, $502,379 70. This is the largest amount of earnings, I learn, of any mouth 
since the completion of the road. Its net earnings this year will probably exceed those 
of last year $1,000,000, at the very least. 

The contemplated Cheyenne and Montana Railroad is now a subject of deep interest 
with the people of these two mountain Territories. There is an almost universal sen- 
timent in favor of this route, and of immediately petitioning Congress to grant the 
same right of way and other privileges in aid of it that have been so liberally granted 
to more favored communities throughout the great and fertile Valley of the Mississippi. 

A bill for this purpose was introduced into Congress last winter by the delegate from 
Montana, but, not being able to call it up in that short session, it was again introduced 
into the present Congress, on the 13th of March last, by the delegate from Wyoming, 
Hon. W. T. Jones. 

The route of the road, as proposed, is from Cheyenne to the great Iron Mountain, on 
the head branches of the Chugwater, thence along the eastern base of the Laramie 
Mountains to Fort Fetterman, on the North Platte, thence along the eastern base of Big 
Horn Mountains, via old Forts Reno and Phil. Kearney, to the Yellowstone, and thence 
to Helena, Montana, along the valleys of the Yellowstone and Gallatin Rivers, unless 
the Northern Pacific Railroad should reach far enough south to occupy the same line, 
in which event to form a junction with that road near the mouth of the Big Horn 
River. 

Tlr's line furnishes the natural outlet, not only for the trade of Montana, but that 
other great trade within the limits of Wyoming, which would rapidly flow from the 
Iron Mountain, the gold and silver ores from the Laramie Peak region, the large forests 
of timber between Laramie Peak and Fort Fetterman, the coal deposits near Fetter- 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 39 

man and all along tbe base of tbe Big Horn Mountains, the best agricultural portion 
of Wyoming within the head valleys of the Cheyenne, Powder, and Tougue Rivers, 
and for the gold and silver products which we know would pour in from the Big Horn 
Mountains. 

The freights now paid by Montana to and from Corinne, Utah, and up the Missouri 
River, would soon build and pay for a three-foot gauge railroad from Cheyenne to the 
mouth of the Big Horn, and this route between here and the interior of Montana would 
be on almost a direct northwest and southeast line, and hence, far the most favorable 
direction for the travel and freights of that Territory on their way to and from the 
more central cities of the valley of the Mississippi. That Territory will continue to 
insist upon a railroad outlet in this direction, instead of going round by Corinne, or 
Fort Union, in Dakota, to reach their St. Louis and Chicago marts of trade. 

The Yellowstone Lake and Falls are also close to this contemplated railroad route 
from Cheyenne to Helena, and are not accessible to the tourist from any other direction 
than up the Yellowstone, in a southerly course, to the lake and geysers in Wyoming. 

The wonderful geysers, the strange scenery of Yellowstone Lake, and the great per- 
pendicular falls, one being 350 feet high, with numerous wild cataracts of the Yellow- 
stone River, are all objects of the deepest interest and attraction to tourists from all 
lands, and are destined to become even more popular with them than the valley and 
falls of Yosemite. 

Yellowstone Lake is in the highest altitude, perhaps, of any mountain lake of its 
size in the world, its surface being 8,337 feet above sea level, and about 2,000 feet higher 
than the beautiful Lake Tahoe in the Nevada Mountains. It lies in Wyoming, and 
within a broad cove or valley between two long spurs of the Wind River Mountain, 
extending north from the crest of the continental divide, and open northward for the 
passage of the river. The water of the lake is said to be so warm as not to freeze in 
winter, though the lake is filled with the largest and finest of trout, showing that the 
hot sulphur springs on its borders do not render the water too warm or too sulphurous 
to permit the production of fish. 

The enormous geysers within its valley can be counted by hundreds, some of them 
throwing up columns of water 5 feet in diameter and 140 feet in vertical height; many of 
60, 90, and 125 feet in height ; and N. P. Langford mentions one that presented a water 
column 219 feet high. 

The lake is described by Mr. Langford, who was one of the large party that accom- 
panied Surveyor General Washburne, of Montana, last year, in exploring that locality, 
as being twenty-five miles long and seventy-five to eighty miles in circumference. 
After giving a full description of these remarkable geysers, (in the June number of 
Scribner's Monthly,) he closes by saying : 

" They are but a reproduction, upon a much grander scale, of the (geyser) phenomena 
of Iceland. A wider field for the investigation of the chemist than that presented by 
the geysers may be found in the many tinted springs of boiling mud, and the mud. 
volcano. These were objects of the greatest interest to Humboldt, who devotes to a 
description of them one of the most fascinating chapters of Cosmos. It would be 
rash for us to speculate where that great man hesitated. We can only say that the 
field is open for exploration, illimitable in resource, grand in extent, wonderful in 
variety, in a climate favored of Heaven, and amid scenery the most stupendous on the 
continent." 

Such scenery will attract visitors in large numbers annually, from all parts of our 
continent and the entire civilized world, who would most naturally seek a direct rail- 
road line from Cheyenne to the Yellowstone Lake, up the valley of that river, and fur- 
nish one of the largest items of business and travel the road would have at first. 

We therefore hope that Congress will admit and act upon the claim of Wyoming 
and Montana in the most liberal and impartial spirit, and thus encourage speedy 
access to the rich resources above enumerated, and to the grandest and most novel 
scenery on the continent. 

I am, sir. very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

SILAS REED, 
Surveyor Gmeral of Wyoming. 

Hon. Wiilis Drummond, 

Commissioner General Land Office, Washington, D. G. 



40 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

A. — Statement of surveys contracted for under the appropriation of $25,000 made oy act of 
Congress approved March 3, 1869. 



I! 



Date. 



1870. 
June 13 



June 21 



Name of deputy. 



Edwin James 



Samuel H. Winsor and 
Nathan P. Cook. 



Work embraced in contract. 



The 8th. guide meridian, between 
the 3d and 4th and 4th and 5th 
standard parallels; and the 4th 
and 5th standard parallels, be- 
tween the 8th and 9th guide 
meridians ; and between the 8th 
guide meridian and the west 
boundary of Nebraska. The ex- 
terior lines of townships 13, 14, 
15, and 10 north, in ranges G5, 
(5(i. and 67 west. 

The 3d standard parallel through 
ranges 70, 71, and 72, and thence 
48 miles west to the 10th guide j 
meridian; the 4th standard par- i 
allel, between the 9th and 10th 
guide meridians; the 9th guide 
meridian, between the 3d and 
4th and 4th and 5th standard 
parallels. The exterior lines of 
townships 13, 14, 15, and 1G north, 
in ranges 73. 74, and 75 west ; and 
townships 17 north, in ranges 73, 
74, 75, and 76 west. 



Eemarks. 



"Work completed and paid 
for, amounting to $4,515 26. 



A portion of the work un- 
der this contract has been 
paid for, amounting to 
$2,803 37. Careless sur- 
veying, and the conse- 
quent necessity of exam- 
inations and re-surveys, 
have delayed the settle- 
ment of the remainder of 
the work. 



Note.— The most of the above appropriation reverted to the Treasury under the act of Congress of 
July 12, 1870. 



United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne. Wyoming, June 30, 1871. 



SILAS EEED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 41 

B. — Statement of surveys contracted for under the appropriation of $40,000 made by act of 
Congress approved July 15, 1870. 



Date. 



10 



13 



1870. 
July 16 



Aug. 27 



Aug. 31 



Oct. 17 



Oct. 17 



Nov. 28 



1871. 
May 16 



May 20 
May 20 



16 June 10 



Name of deputy. 



Henry G. Hay and 
John B. Thomas. 



Work embraced in contract. 



Stephen W. Downey.. 



Nathan P. Coot 



Edwin James and Al- 
fred M. Rogers. 



John B. Thomas 



Henry G-. Hay 



Stephen W. Downey 
and Wm. O. Downey. 



"William J. Allason 



Wm. O. Downey and 
Stephen W. Downey. 



Edwin James and Al- 
fred M. Bogers. 



J. Wesley Hammond 



The subdivision lines of townships 
13 and 14 north, in ranges 65, 66, 
and 67 west ; and of townships 

15 north, in ranges 66 and 67 
west, closing on the out bound- 
aries of the town site of Chey- 
enne and the fort D. A. Bussell 
military reservation. 

The subdivision lines of townships 
13 and 14 north, in ranges 73, 74, 
and 75 west ; and. of townships 15 
and 16 north, in range 75 west- 
Townships 14 north, ranges 73 
and 74 west, are made fractional 
by the Eort Sanders military 
reservation. 

The 4th standard parallel north, 
from the initial point for the 
10th guide meridian to the west- 
ern boundary of the territory, 
to wit : the 34th meridian. 

The subdivision lines in townships 
17 north, in ranges 73, 74, 75, 
and 76 west, and" in fractional 
township 16 north, range 74 west. 
The exterior lines of townships 
17, 18, 19, and 20 north, in ranges 
69, 70, 71, and 72 west. 

The exterior lines of townships 13, 
14, 15, and 16 north, in ranges 68 
and 69 west ; and of townships 
13, 14, 15, and 16 north, in ranges 
63 and 64 west. The subdivis- 
ion lines in township 15 north, 
range 65 west, and in townships 

16 north, in ranges 65, 66, and 

67 west. 

The subdivision lines in townships 
13, 14, 15, and 16 north, in ranges 

68 and 69 west. 



The subdivision lines in fractional 
township 15 north, range 74 
west; and in fractional township 
16 north, range 73 west. 

The exterior lines of townships 13, 
14, 15, and 16 north, in ranges 
76 and 77 west; and of townships 
18 north, in ranges 73, 74, 75, and 
76 west. The subdivision iines 
in townships 18 and 19 north, 
in range 71 west. 

The subdivision lines in town- 
ships 18 north, in ranges 73, 74, 
and 75 west ; and townships 16 
north, in ranges 76 and 77 west. 

The exterior lines of townships 
13, 14, 15, and 16 north, in ranges 
61 and 62 west; and of fractional 
townships 13, 14, 15, and 16 
north, in range 60 west, closing 
to the east on the west boundary 
of Nebraska. The subdivision 
lines in townships 13, 14, 15, and 
16 north, in ranges 63 and 64 
west. 

The subdivision lines in fractional 
township 14 north, in range 60 
west. 



Bemarks. 



Work completed and paid 
for, amounting to $4,657 91 



Work completed and paid 
for, amounting to $4,638 17 



Work completed and paid 
for, amounting to $3,600. 
This line was stopped at 
the initial point for the 
15th guide meridian. 

Subdivisions completed 
and paid for, amounting 
to $2,954 85. Exteriors 
completed and field-notes 
returned to office. 



A portion of exteriors com- 
pleted and paid for, 
amounting to $793 00. 
The remainder of surveys 
completed and field-notes 
returned to office. 



Eour townships completed 
and paid for amounting 
to $2,399 22. The survey 
of the remaining four 
completed, and field-notes 
returned to office. 

Work completed and paid 
for, amounting to $742 58. 



Surveys in progress. 



Surveys in progress. 



Surveys in progress. 



Survey in progress. 



United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming June 30, 1871. 



SILAS BEED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



42 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

D.— Statement of surveys contracted for under special appropriations of Congress. 



CM 

11 

II 


Date. 


Name of deputy. 


Work embraced in contract. 


Remai'ks. 




1871. 








17 


June 15 


N. J. Paul and J. N. 


The exterior lines of the reserva- 


This contract is made under 






J. Paul. 


tion made by the second article 
of the treaty concluded the 3d 
day of July, 1868, with the Sho- 
shonesandBaunacks, for the use 
of the Sbosbone Indians; com- 
mencing at the mouth of Owl 
Creek, and running due south to 
the crest of the divide between 
the Sweetwater and Papo-agie 
Rivers ; thence along the crest 
of said divide and the summit 
of Wind River Monntains to the 
longitude of North Fork of Wind 
River; thence due north to mouth 


th e appropriation of $3,600 
made by act of Congress 
approved July 15, 1870, 
for surveying theexternal 
lines of said reservation. 
The contract has not yet 
been acted on by the Com- 
missioner of the General 
Land Office. 








of said North Fork, and up its 
channel to a point twenty miles 
above its mouth ; thence in a 
straight line to headwaters of 
Owl Creek, and along middle of 
channel of Owl Creek to place 










of beginning. 





United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 30, 1871. 



SILAS PEED, 

Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



E. — Statement of surveys contracted for to be made for account of individual depositors within 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. 















3 o 


Date. 


Name of 


deputy. 


Work embraced in contract. 


Remarks. 




1870. 










4 


July 18 


Henry G. 


Hay and 


The out-boundaries of the town- 


Deposit made by town 






John B. Thomas. 


site of Cheyenne ; beginning at 


trustees of $100. Survey 










the southwest coiner, as estab- 


completed and paid for, 










lished by the town trustees, and 


amounting to $92; the 










running thence north 26° 30', 


balance of deposit to ap- 










west 114.85 chains ; thence north 


ply to office work. 










63° 30', east 135.46 chains ; thence 












south 26° 30', east 1 14.85 chains; 












thence south 63° 30', west 135.46 












chains to point of beginning. 




12 


Dec. 9 


Maurice J. 


Roche 


The out-boundaries of the town- 
site of Merrill ; beginning at a 
point 20 chains south of the 
northeast corner of the Fort 
Bridger Military Reservation, 
and running thence east 40 
chains; thence south 80 chains; 
thence west 40 chains. 


Deposit of $24 for survey 
and $40 for office work. 
Action on this contract 
suspended by Commis- 
sioner. 



United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming!. 



SILAS REED, 

Surveyor General of Wyoming, 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 43 

F. — Statement of townships surveyed in Wyoming Territory to June 30, 1871, of which the 
field-notes have been returned, examined, and approved. 



Township. 


Range. 


Area. 


Remarks. 


13 north 




23, 000. 34 
22, 724. 96 

22, 894. 29 

23, 043. 44 
23, 066. 60 
23, 053. 61 
22, 938. 00 

22, 793. 58 

23, 042. 14 

21, 498. 76 

18, 642. 35 
23, 018. 42 
23, 036. 99 
17,018.08 

19, 030. 67 

22, 999. 75 
22, 874. 34 
23, 134. 99 
23, 148. 13 
22, 971. 02 
22, 995. 92 
10, 231. 70 
22, 829. 59 

22, 952. 52 
23, 136. 81 
23, 182. 95 
23 t 225. 60 

23, 267. 23 
18, 147. 48 

20, 374. 97 
23, 228. 75 
23, 123. 70 
23, 085. 58 
23, 116. 55 

21, 785. 28 




13 north 




Made fractional by town-site of Cheyenne. 








68 west 




13 north 


69 west 




13 north 






13 north 




















66 west 


Fractional by town-site of Cheyenne. 
Fractional by Fort D. A. Russell reservation. 




















Fractional by Fort Sanders reservation. 
Fractional by Fort Sanders reservation, and con- 


















66 west 


















69 west 








Fractional by Fort Sanders reservation. 






16 north 






16 north 


66 west . 




16 north 






16 north 


68 west 




16 north 


69 west 




16 north 


73 west 


Fractional by Fort Sanders reservation. 
Fractional by Fort Sanders reservation. 


1Q north 




16 north 






73 west 




17 north 


\ 


17 north 


75 west . . . 




17 north 




Contains a la.ke of about 1,209 acres in area. 








Total 


768, 615. 09 











Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne., Wyoming, June 30, 1871. 



SILAS REED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



G. — Statement of the amount expended for compensation of the surveyor general of Wyoming 
Territory during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. 



Name. 



Quarter. 



Amount of service. 



Amount 
paid. 



Silas Reed. 
Silas Reed. 
Silas Reed. 
Silas Reed. 



Total amount paid. 



First quarter . . 
Second quarter 
Third quarter . . 
Fourth quarter 



During entire quarter. 

do 

do ..., .... 

do 



Amount of appropriation made by act of Congress approved July 12, 1870, for compensation of 
surveyor general '. 



$750 
750 
750 
750 



3,000 



$3, 000 



United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 30, 1871. 



SILAS REED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



44 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 



II. 



■Statement of the amount expended for compensation of clerks in the office of the surveyor 
general of Wyoming Territory during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1671. 



Name. 



Alfred M. Rogers. . . 

Charles J. Reed 

Leverett C. Stevens 
George T. Adams . . 



Charles J. Reed 
Richard Black stone 
George H. Adams . . 
Leverett C. Stevens 



Charles J. Reed 

Richard Blackstone 
Leverett C. Stevens 



Charles J. Reed 

Richard Blackstone 

Leverett C. Stevens 



Position. 



Chief clerk. 

....do 

Clerk 

Copyist 



; Chief clerk... 
Draughtsman . 

....do 

Clerk 



Quarter. 



First quarter 

do 

do 

do ...*... 



Second quarter. 

do 

do 

do 



Chief clerk . . . [ Third quarter. . 

Draughtsman do 

Clerk do 



Chief clerk . . 
Draughtsman 
Clerk 



Fourth quarter 
do 

do 



Total amount expended. 



Amount of service. 



July 1 to Atijj. 3, 1870 . . . 
Aug. 4 to Sept. 30. 1870. . 
Sept 27 to Sept. 30,1870. 
Sundry copying 



Amount. 



$166 3P 

383 70 

13 04 

•20 00 



Amount 

expended 

during 

quarter. 



During entire quarter. 
Nov. 9 to Dec. 31, 1870. 
Nov. 7 to Dec. 22, 1870. 
During entire quarter. 



...do 
...do 
....do 



450 CO 
216 03 
187 50 
300 00 

450 00 
375 00 
300 00 



450 00 
375 00 
350 00 



Amount of appropriation made by act of Congress approved July 12, 1870, for compensation 
of clerks 



Amount unexpended and reverting to United States Treasury 



$463 04 

1, 153 53 

1, 125 00 

1, 175 CO 

3, ( J3G r S1 

4, 000 00 



li.5 43 



Untied States Surveyor Gemekal's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 3Q, cfcVl. 



SILAS REED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 45 

I. — Statement of the amount expended for the incidental exjyenses of ike office of the surveyor 
general of Wyoming Territory during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871, and for the frac- 
tional year ending June 30, 1870. 



To whom paid. 


Quarter. 


Item. 


Amount. 


Amount 

expended 

during 

quarter. 




1870. 
4th quarter 




$40 20 
15 50 
39 67 






Miscellaneous, per vouchers . 
Kent 

Stationery 

Furniture 

Rent 

Rent 

Miscellaneous, per vouchers. 

Stationery 

Rent 

Sundries 




E.M.Cohen . 


. . - do . 






1871. 
1st quarter 


*$!)5 37 




33 75 
98 35 
46 66 
55 43 
65 65 






E. M. Cohen 


...do 




P. S. Wilson 


...do .. . 




Silas Reed 


do 

2d quarter 

...... do 


299 84 




53 50 

100 00 

11 17 

20 00 

44 72 


P.S.Wilson 






do 




E. P. Snow 


do 






.... do 


Miscellaneous, per vouchers. 

Stationery 

Rent 

Fuel 

Miscellaneous, per vouchers. 

Stationery 

Rent....! 

Printed blanks 

Furniture', &c 

Miscellaneous, per vouchers. 








229 39 




51 30 
100 00 
21 00 
97 60 


P. S. Wilson 






E. P. Snow . . 


... do 






...do ...... 






4th quarter 






29 65 
100 00 

14 00 
200 00 

81 65 




P. S. Wilson 




N.A.Baker 


do 

do 




Silas Eeed 














1,319 80 


Amount of appropriation made by act of Congress approved July 15, 1870, for incidental 


2, 000 00 










680 20 









* By reason of no appropriation being made for the incidental expenses of the fractional fiscal year 
eudirig June 30, 1870, the expenses for that period were made payable out of the appropriation for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. 



United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 30, 1871. 



SILAS REED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 



46 REPORT OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 

K. — Estimate of appropriations required for the surveying service in tlie Territory of Wyo- 
ming for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873. 

For extending the standard and meridian lines, and for surveying town- 
ship and subdivision lines of agricultural, grazing, and coal lands within 

the land-grant of the Union Pacific Railroad Company $50, 000 00 

For salary of the surveyor general 3, 000 00 

For salaries of clerks 6, 000 00 

For rent, fuel, stationery, messenger, and incidental expenses 2, 500 00 

Total „ 61,500 00 

SILAS REED, 
Surveyor General of Wyoming. 
United States Surveyor General's Office, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, August 23, 1871. 



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